After Wars
by Julia Maxwell
Summary: This story tells of the begining troubles between Julia and Zero, Julia's new powers come into play and a few hints of Alex's. Beware, long chapters.
1. Chapter one

After Wars By Amanda Allen  
  
  
  
Begin transmission  
  
  
  
Beep-Beep-Beep BOOM. Alex smiled to herself as she let her arm fall to her side, along with the detonator. This was the fifteenth ex-Oz base she had destroyed this week. She was happy that the war was over, that everything was going to go back to normal. That her family and friends would finally go back to being safe as they were five years ago. "Hey Alex, you make sure no one was in there when you blew it up?" Alex grinned and looked up to see Julia. The other girl's light brown hair blew in the breeze and she smiled brightly. "Would it be so bad if I didn't?" She grimaced and stood up. It was time to put her strong points to use. She, if anyone, had to put on a strong face for Julia. Be her strong self. Julia had lost a lot in the war, and no one wanted to see her being weak. Least of all Alex. "I think God might forgive you if you ask him." Julia's smile faded and she sighed softly. "Hey, I'll take you home. Your dad needs to talk to all of us about something. I think it's about..." "Shut up, Julia. You talk too much." Alex said playfully. She smiled and pulled on a length of Julia's long hair. "Let's go home. You still have to do your paper." "Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're worse than Heero, Relena, Zero and Tarmine. Why can't everyone just lay off my back?" They started walking back to the private road where Julia's blue sports car was parked. "Because we want you to do your best. There's only a month of school left, and you're falling behind." Alex opened her door and got in. Julia got in on the driver's side and started the car as Alex buckled her seatbelt. "Put yours on." Alex said as Julia backed out and drove down the road. "Why?" "We might get in a crash, knowing how you drive." The darker-haired girl nudged the lighter in the ribs, making her squeal in laughter. "I've been through worse." Alex looked over at Julia and saw the serious look on her face as she drove to the main street, screeching to turn a corner and get on her way down a deep hill. Her eyes wandered from Julia to the people on the sidewalks. After the war, there'd been many people going homeless because most colonies had been destroyed. She looked at the old and young walking along, sad and dirty, starving and dying. Alex cringed and looked back to Julia. "Why are you so sad, Jules?" "I have a reason to be sad. I live alone, I hardly see you guys, the one thing I was so focused on has been gone a year and I still feel the aftershocks. And look around you, Alex. Look at everything. It all went to hell after the war. This is what comes after wars." Julia had enjoyed the war, everyone knew that. When she had fought she'd always had this certain gleam to her eyes, a light to her mood. And the thing about living alone. She knew what that was about. A couple of months ago she'd asked Zero to move in with her, but he'd told her that it was too soon. They'd been together two years, which should have been long enough. And another part about it was that Julia's parents had both been killed when she was young. "Her mother during child-birth, her father by 'Lady Une'" during a summit meeting when she was six. She had no true family to rely on. Unless the few ex-pilots counted as something. "Jules, if you want to talk-" "What's to talk about?" She slammed on the brakes as a little kid ran in front of her car. Her whole body was almost ready to crash into the window as the air bag popped out. Alex looked over in shock as Julia screamed a curse and jammed the air-bag back in. "STUPID KIDS DON'T RUN IN FRONT OF MOVING VEHICLES!!!" She yelled out the window. "Julia, I'll drive, if you don't mind." She pushed the door open and shoved Julia out then got over in the other seat as Julia walked over to the other side, sitting down. Alex reached over her and grabbed the seatbelt, buckling it for the enraged girl. She herself did her belt and they were on their way. The blue car entered the driveway to the big house Alex and her parents lived in. The giant, four-story mansion was in the center of a huge rose garden, at the end of a long driveway. It was edged with a forest and a lake, and then lined with a high-security line of fences and guard-towers that only stood a few feet up. But it was enough. "Is Zero gonna be here?" Alex asked as she parked the car. The two girls got out and started walking toward the house, the large doors opening by the butler. "Yes." Julia took the lead and they walked to the main hall, going into a big conference room. Inside were two other ex-pilots and Heero and Relena Yuy. Quatre R. Winner and Sally Po were sitting in seat kitty-corner eachother, and Lucrezia (Noin) and Milliardo Peacecraft were sitting in seats right next to Relena and Heero. Julia took a seat at the other end of the table from Zero. Alex sat opposite, then watched Zero get up and walk over to sit by Julia. She got up and walked to the side Zero was at, and sat down alone. Alex heard Zero mutter something under his breath and smiled to herself. She'd never liked Zero because he bothered her. When he hurt Julia it made her angrier. He was too sure of himself, too arrogant. Like he was at school. It bothered her even more that Julia had had to get rid of her reputation by defending Tarmine before he liked anything more than her body. He and Tarmine had thought her an air-headed-Barbie-doll-preppy-mall- rat-egotistical-snob before she almost killed two people for beating Tarmine. "The reason I've asked everyone here," Heero started. "Is because the Preventers have spotted military activity in the XGPZ-zero-one-one-two- three-nine area. It looks like either left-over Oz or Barton Foundation military, and you guys know how to handle it." "A year after the war is over there's still people wanting to fight? Gee, let's think, that's gonna be hard to get rid of a small, little army of misfit soldiers who want to start something. Heero, next time you have some 'big, important news,' don't bother calling me." Julia stood up and walked out of the room, absolutely surprising everyone there. Heero sighed. He'd taken Julia in after her parents were killed, and he'd raised her to fight. Seeing her like this made him doubt what he learned as a pilot. "Zero, could you go check on her?" "Don't send him, it's mostly his fault." Alex said with a bark. "My fault? What did I do?!" "Zero never did anything to her, you're just blaming him because you hate him." "You get out of this, Tarmine! You have no right to butt-into other people's business." "You get off her back!" "MAKE ME!" "ALRIGHT!" "SHUT UP!" Heero said, slamming his fist onto the table. Trowa, Quatre and him ran around the table to keep the three ex-pilots from killing eachother, holding them back with difficulty. "Everyone, calm down!" Relena said loudly. She watched the fighting and sighed. Sally grinned and rolled her eyes; it was so nice to see everyone together like this.  
  
Julia looked down at her reflection in the water. Her face was stressed, and the make-up she wore lightly hid it. Before she put on her make-up in the mornings, she would see the big black bags under her eyes from restless nights and dragging days. Her hair was perfect, though, braided back with only a few loose strands. She'd had to beat off guys when she got back to school after the war. They hadn't changed as much as she had. And Zero just acted like the war hadn't happened, but he did treat her with a little more respect after it. The only thing she could really see through the make-up, the only thing that had changed permanently was a scar that ran from her hairline to the opposite side of the face, ending at the lower-cheek. That was the only place she worked hard on in the mornings. She didn't like it to show too much. It was also why she didn't have any mirrors in her house except for the small one in her bathroom. Even then, it wasn't a big one. It was a hand-mirror that only showed parts of her face at a time, so she didn't have to see the scar as part of her. Though she knew it was. She kept it as a reminder of... things. "Hey kid." Julia looked up to see Zechs Peacecraft walk up. She sighed and turned around to see him better, grimacing at the smoke he puffed out of his mouth. She watched him take another long drag, then took the cigarette and flicked it into the lake. "You shouldn't smoke, it's not good for you." Julia took in his picture. The soft, long, platinum blonde hair that his father used to have had been passed down. He looked identical to the younger Milliardo Peacecraft. He and Zero looked a little alike, though when she let her mind flow it was Zero who was so much more beautiful. Even if he was almost as big a jerk as Zechs could be. "Yeah, but the part of flying and battling in a Gundam didn't do too much for any of us either." He looked at her face, right past the make-up. "You shouldn't stress about nothing, it's not good for you." "Shut up, Zechs. I'm tired of it all." She put her back against a large weeping willow, sliding down to sit of the soft grass. Her knees came up to her chest and she hugged them to her, sighing softly. Zechs sat by the girl. He'd always had an attraction to her, but he knew she didn't like him like that. There was something about him that had always scared her away from him. He only wished he'd known what. "All of what?" "Everything! I hate it how I'm supposed to be the one everyone can look to for help. I hate it how everyone expects me to be happy-go-lucky Julia. I hate it how Zero thinks he's everything to me. How he's being such a big, stupid jerk right now. I hate it how everyone thinks I'm always supposed to be the strong one and make jokes about everything! I hate it all. I'm a normal human being, and I've lost everything, and they expect to look to me for blue skies and sunny days. And then they expect me to keep up my grades, social skills, job, reputation and perky attitude when I can't rely on anyone else for help. I'm only seventeen and I'm in charge of Trades Peace through the world and space, then be a Preventer and drop everything to go out and help Heero Yuy with every little thing. I don't even know what the words vacation or break means anymore." She started to cry, "I hate it." Zechs realized just how stressed she was. This was the real Julia coming out. She'd been scared more than physically during the last few years. Hesitantly he wrapped his arms around Julia and pulled her onto his lap. He rocked her and whispered, "It's ok" for a while. After a half an hour she stopped crying and just sat there, sniffling between broken sobs. "Julia, have you told anyone else what you told me?" "No. They wouldn't understand. Zero would think it's his fault and start a routine of asking me what he did wrong." "But it is partly his fault." "I know, I just... jeez." She buried her head into his neck and tried to control her sobs. For some reason, she didn't feel weird with him like this. It bothered her more that it didn't bother her, because it should have. The two of them sat under the tree talking for an hour, until Julia finally climbed out of his lap and just sat beside him. "I think Zero's afraid of losing you, Jules." Zechs said softly as the sun started to sink into the lake. He felt Julia's weight shift and looked over at her. She was staring into the water with a sad, serious look on her face. "Why would I let him go if I need him so bad?" She whispered to herself more than him. Zero, as much as she hated to confess it, was right about him being her everything. Through the war, he'd been the reason she'd not just let herself go. "You're letting yourself deteriorate. You need to have the good attitude, because happiness makes people feel better. You've even said it yourself. The reason we all look to you for blue skies is because you were always the sure one, always the one buried in faith with God. The one that always told us He was up there helping us, and you were always so happy. As soon as you started to become sad, I think we all kinda lost faith in some things. To Zero, it's his faith that you two will stay together." "Then it's my fault." "It's partially all of our faults. I know we've run you to your edge. I also know you and Zero need to spend time together. Alex's personality of no emotions is rubbing off on you. Keep your faith in us. Keep your faith in God. He'll make everything all right. You of all people need to remember that." Zechs stood up and smiled down at her. "I'll talk to you later, but for now I have to go in and see if anyone was killed during the meeting." Julia nodded and watched the last bit of sun slip behind clouds and sink into the water. She leaned against the tree and watched the water for a while. "Julia?" The silence she'd drowned in was broken by Zero's voice. Julia realized then that she'd dozed off, just long enough for the clouds to pass and the stars to come out. She'd been so far out that Zero's footsteps hadn't made a sound. "Julia...." He sat beside her, his soft blonde hair falling over his shoulders to brush her own. "Hey, you in there?" "Unfortunately." She said in a soft voice. Why was he out here? What did he want to talk about? Did Zechs say anything? It was a little awkward having him sit beside her after she'd run out of the room. It had mostly been because of him that she ran out. "I'm not going to ask you what I did, because I know. And I'm sorry. It's just scary how you've been acting like this, I didn't think you had the ability to be depressed." "I'm sorry if my robotic appearance of being Miss Perfect has faltered. I'm only human." "And I've been pushing that fact aside." He put a gentle finger under her chin and lifted her face to look at it. "You've quit a lot of things lately, Julia. That includes going to church. I thought maybe you'd quit on me." Julia stared up into Zero's beautiful blue/green eyes. He really was scared, Zechs had been right. "Zero, I wouldn't give up on you. And no matter what anyone thinks, I haven't given up on God. I still listen to my worship CD's, and I still praise Him, and pray, and so much other stuff. I just don't have time to go to church. I miss that." Zero smiled sadly. Julia had been very Christian, even when fighting. She had said she was a soldier in God's army, helping the weak become strong. She had changed a lot of people's minds while fighting, too. She'd been so into her faith that half of one squadron of Oz soldiers had stopped fighting once. God had done a lot for Julia, and she was forgetting that because she didn't have a few key things she needed. If she didn't think she had a family, though, she was wrong. God was her Father, and the ex- pilots and their parents were a family to her. "I miss my dad, Zero. I miss fighting, because I felt like I belonged somewhere. I miss just hanging out with everyone. I miss you. I wanted you to come live with me because I'm lonely. You're always out with your other friends, and then you're busy when I'm not. At least if we lived together I'd see more of you." She looked away from him and back to the lake, closing her eyes when his arms wrapped around her. "You were really serious about it, then." He gently kissed her temple and Julia tried to keep back her tears. Why was he doing this to her? He knew she had no power in his arms, when he used that certain tone of voice. "Please, Zero." She whimpered softly. Zero looked down at Julia in his arms. "What's so wrong, my fawn?" Julia took in a deep breath and told him what she'd told Zechs. After she got it all out Zero sat there. An awkward silence filled the air and Julia fidgeted lightly. Zero ran his hand down to the tie in her braid, taking it out and letting Julia's long hair feather out around her. "Jules, I'm sorry. If you had told me this earlier, I wouldn't have hurt you like this." "So it's all my fault?" Zero sighed softly. He would have come right out and said yes, they both knew it. But he didn't say anything at all. "Listen, Zero, you don't have to worry about my leaving you. If we were to break up, it wouldn't be because of me. I'm never going to give up on you, or God. Least of all God. He gave me you when I needed you most. You've just been... like the Zero we all knew before we went to the base. As soon as we'd gotten there, you'd changed into someone I fell in love with. And I still love you. And I'll always love you." "I'll always love you too, Julia. And I am sorry."  
  
Zechs watched the two from where he stood on the balcony. He watched as they talked for a few minutes, then as Zero's lips tenderly met Julia's. He sighed softly and watched as the two teenagers slowly took off each other's clothes and Zero laid Julia down on them. Finally turning away as they joined hips he was surprised to see Tarmine standing beside him. She was staring out at the two also, with a soft, sad smile on her face. "She doesn't know how lucky she is to have him. She's all he ever talks about, all he ever worries about." The violet-headed girl said. Zechs looked back to the slowly moving silhouette. It was beautiful that two people could be so close together like they were at that moment. He'd always viewed sex as sharing not only bodies, but souls as well. He knew, how Julia held her poise, that she'd only been with Zero, and no one else. He also knew, though, that Tarmine and Zero had shared eachother once, that their friendship had gone too far one night. That had led to Tarmine becoming pregnant and giving birth to Zero's daughter. He remembered the first few days at the base. How that was one of the main things that had happened, Zero found out he was a father. Zechs didn't know all the details, but it seemed that Tarmine had gone away for the months she was pregnant. "You know, you can tell he loves her. Even after he found out about Marine he stayed with Julia. He's never tried to hurt her; sometimes he just does things without thinking. It's not his fault, though. He doesn't know when he hurts her, because she never says anything. And he's just so naive about things. But she never says anything." "You're blaming her?" Zechs asked with a sneer. "She's been run to the wall by the both of you, Tarmine. After everything we've all put her through, she's going to be quiet about her pain. You of all people should know about that. You've always kept your pain hidden." Tarmine looked over at Zechs. "You like her, don't you?" "Everyone likes Julia. It doesn't matter, though, Tarmine. I wouldn't want her to leave him if it meant she'd be sad." "What if he went for another girl? And she were to want to break up with him, then?" She was prying. Getting on his nerves. The next few hours may be just a waste of his time. "You and I both know that wouldn't happen. Look at them, out there, they're in love and there's nothing we can do to break that. As much as I know we'd both benefit from it, they wouldn't." If they were miserable, then we wouldn't even benefit from it. The gentle outcry of climax drifted on the wind to where the two stood. They both looked over to watch the tender touches and soft kisses that followed. No one but Tarmine and Zechs would be able to see them. No one would be able to see the peaceful motions of two lovers but them. Even as the shadows seperated to only connect again, Zechs knew that this was something he'd only see a single time. He knew that the feeling he was having at that moment would only be felt once, because the aura of Zero and Julia would fall away with the new war that was beginning. That he and the girl next to him were in on. "Don't go for something you can't have, Tarmine. It'll turn out badly for you." Zechs turned away from the scene of love, from the angry face of Tarmine. He walked inside the big house and then to his room. Taking off his shirt and pants he climbed into the large bed that seemed a little too cold tonight. Sleep seemed too far off, so he went over what he'd heard earlier from his father and mother. "They're setting up new bases. They've taken over space and started to fix colonies. The soldiers call themselves 'Plague.'" Zechs's father looked at his mother. His blue eyes becoming sad. "They will start another war, then, Lucrezia?" "That's their plan. We don't have enough resources left to fight off as big an army as they have. We've run out of options, the only thing left is for the kids to go out and fight again. We can't do it; I know Heero can't do it. We've all had our share of medical problems, those of us that fought before. And the only ones we have that can fight in a Gundam besides the kids are Trowa, Quatre, Heero and you. Trowa won't, because of Tarmine. Quatre won't, because he's gone back to pacifism, Heero can't because of his arthritis. And I'm not too sure you want to go out and fight, either." "So you'll send us because we're still strong?" Zechs asked coming out of the shadows. His mother winced and looked away, then back. Her eyes held a type of pain he'd seen may times before. "We have to." "Haven't we suffered enough? Look at what it did to some of us, mother. Look at Trowa's kid; look at Julia for God's Sake. Especially Julia. She's been going down since we stopped fighting, she can't get back into a Gundam to have it taken from her again. Armageddon isn't even able to fight. We all know that. And she won't fight in anything else." "What about Alex?" "Alex is holding it together for Julia. You can't push us out there again." Milliardo stood up and walked over to his son. He stared into the identical blue eyes of the kid he once was. He recognized the same determination he once had, the same need to fight. And the same feeling that he couldn't possibly fight anymore. "It's been almost twenty years since I last fought in a war, Zechs. I know it's hard to go back, because I never did. I don't want you to grow up like me, but this is the only way we can save Earth and Space. One lost person is better than millions." "Then you tell them that. You try and tell Heero that we have to go out again, tell Relena her little girl has to go and fight again. Tell Qautre his son has to go and fight, has to leave the pacifism that he'd wanted since he was a pilot. You try and tell Trowa he could lose Tarmine, like he lost Juliann. You try and tell Julia she's gonna have a life again, to have it ripped away like it was last time. That she could lose even more than she's already lost. I want to see you tell them all that they might go through losing what they hold most prized. Try and tell Zero he could lose Julia again."  
  
Zero gently wrapped his arms around Julia's waist. He pulled up his long trench coat to cover their cooling bodies. In the dark, Julia's skin looked perfect, but Zero knew differently. He could remember her pain; remember the one battle he'd lost her for a while. He remembered seeing her ripped body, watching the doctors take shards of glass and metal from her lifeless form on the operating table. Remembered watching them sew her body back together, stitch-by-stitch. Then he'd watched her lay there, broken and gone. He'd heard them say she'd needed a blood transfusion, since she'd lost a lot of it. Zero was the only one able to donate, because they shared the same blood type, and no one else had her type but him. He remembered watching his lifeblood flow into Julia, watching her color come back to her cheeks. He'd held her hand while he did it, and as she regained consciousness, how she squeezed his hand and started to cry. Things seemed to have gone blurry, and they both of them fell asleep again. Zero had woken up to feel Julia's hand gently stroking his cheek. He stared into her face, past the stitches and bruises, to the beautiful, gentle emotions she gave to him. Her lips, though sore and bruised, gently smiled as he had just stared. "Zero, I'm sorry. I guess I just lost my mind for a while. I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have you and Alex." "You and Tarmine don't get along too well, do you?" "Not really. I wish we did, though. Whatever I did... I didn't mean to." "Jules..." "Yeah?" "I-ARGH! Heero!?" "Julia, Zero, get in the house. There's going to be an attack on the house." He looked at them again. "Get dressed please. Jeez, not even Relena and I..." "AH! W. T. M. I! Way too much information!" Julia yelped and covered her ears. Heero nodded, grinned, and turned around as Zero threw on his pants and grabbed his shirt, then gave Julia his coat and grabbed her clothes too. He got up and helped up Julia, then they all ran back to the house. Milliardo, Zechs, Noin, Quatre, Trowa, Sally and Relena were all running around in a mad fit, along with a few other Preventers. "Everyone's running around like they're chickens that got their heads cut-off. It can't be that bad!" Julia shouted from somewhere behind Zero. He turned around and saw her working at a computer, her fingers frantically working at the keyboards. She slammed her fist on the board and shouted a curse. He walked over and looked at the screen, a gasp escaping his lips and his eyes widening in surprise. "It's like, ten teams. There's gotta be two-hundred men coming to this one house," He whispered. "Just about." Sally said from over his shoulder "Why so many?" Julia asked still typing and pulling up more windows. "Because they think we're hiding Gundams. Why else would there be so many?" Alex asked from the computer next to Julia and Zero. Sally's hand came in-between the two teenagers and she typed in a few things, then a screen popped up with more information. Her eyes widened and then narrowed, this was amazing, even to her. "They don't need that many weapons. What does she want to gain from this?!" Zero heard Julia's voice as he typed frantically, "Who?" A window popped up with the time remaining until the fleet would reach the small base. "Ok, ten minutes. Everyone get down into the fall-out shelter." Sally purposefully ignored Julia's question. Zero heard it in her voice.  
  
Tarmine raced around helping her father and Qautre. They were taking most of the files and junk down into the shelter. Her father ran behind a corner for a moment then raced back and the automatic blackout counter started. "Time is set for: nine minutes and thirty seconds." Said the emotionless female voice of the computer. A clock on the wall lit-up with red numbers giving the minutes, seconds and milliseconds. Tarmine ran to a computer and shoved in three diskettes in each of the seven slots. This would trace all of their on-line files and then destroy what was on the databases of the computers. She looked up to see Julia and Zero practically fall down the stairs holding suitcases of clothes and bags of food, tossing them down then run up the stairs again. Her eyes narrowed as she realized Julia was wearing Zero's trench coat, and probably nothing else under it. She glanced over at the bags they'd dropped off and saw the clothes Julia had been wearing earlier on the ground. "Slut." "What'd you say, Tarmine?" her father asked from behind her. "Nothing dad." She said loudly. It's not fair. Tarmine thought. He loves her more than me, and I'm the one who has his daughter. That should have been enough for him. But no, he picks a girl with prettier eyes and longer hair over me. Figures. She doesn't deserve to have my mother's name as her own. "Tarmine, the only reason my son loves Julia like that is because they didn't grow up being 'cousins'. And she gave him something you forgot to give him. A few things, actually." Tarmine looked over at Qautre and glared. It was true her and Zero grew up in the same home, and they used to call eachother 'cuz' or 'cousin'. The cousin thing had changed though, when Zero found out about his daughter. But what did.... "How did you know what I was thinking?" "The look on your face. Remember; I raised you for most of your life, I know you like I know my favorite book." He grinned and pressed the delete button on the computer screen. "Files deleted." Came the electronic voice most of the automatic things in the base had. "Also," he started, helping take the disks from the drives. "I heard you call her that name. So did your father. Don't try and lie, Tarmine, it doesn't work when you're right next to people." "Whatever." They all looked up as the whole household ran down the stairs with more bags and boxes of things. Zechs's voice came out over the stomping of feet. Tarmine had to smile. "It didn't come by any of you to just pack all of this and keep it down here so it wouldn't take us as long, did it?" "Not really." came Relena's voice. "There's my mother for you." Alex said in a bland voice. "You're related to her." This from everyone else. "You married her, dad." No more arguing came for a few minutes until they were all standing there. Then Relena looked as though she had a sudden important epiphany. "Hey! I resent that!" The people around her smiled then walked to different parts of the main room of the shelter. There were about fifteen doors in the shelter, the one they all came in from, and different escape routes. The fourteen that were for running out of branched off into some elaborate labyrinth that extended out for miles and went down seven floors. There were sliding and trapdoors that led to oubliettes that had no light and mercy only knew what they held. There were electronic tigers and wolves also stalking around in the halls. Every once a month they'd be programmed with different sensory devices and up-graded in who was and wasn't enemy. They looked like real animals, and were nice weapons. There were halls that were set with traps that could easily kill or mortally wound also. The animals weren't the only things that an enemy had to keep an eye out for. There were also halls that led off into the walls of the house and base the shelter sat under. Only the people in the Preventers knew how to get out of the labyrinth. Very useful for when they'd be raided. There was also one other hallway that was put in a far wall in back of the computers. There was a sliding wall that came down once every door was shut in the living quarters, for just such an emergency as having the raiders find the shelter outside of it. It had half the number of rooms of the people that slept in them. Two people per room, sometimes more, sometimes less. Again, there were three doors in each room besides the ones that let you in and out of the room. They also branch off into the labyrinth, and the same things applied in there. And if you were just unlucky enough to get to the very bottom of the labyrinth, there'd be a very nice surprise there waiting for you. There had been a thoroughly planned out pit of ever burning fire-tile that had been installed before the first floors of the labyrinth were finished being planned. It was like a floor of molten lava that stayed in one spot and kept burning. But it was a tile Julia and Alex had accidentally created using hot plates and glass. Tarmine had to give credit where it was due. Julia, Alex and Heero had both made awesome plans when Heero had decided to have this house and base built. It was the ultimate weaponry shelter. "It will be total black out in ten..." All of the people in their shelter went into their rooms, Tarmine watched Zero walk into the room he shared with his father, Julia go into the one her and Alex shared. Everyone carried bags and suitcases, Julia carried her one extra set of clothes and still wore Zero's coat. She watched and noticed as the two of them exchanged glances, then the door shut and Tarmine sighed, turning around to face her father. The light was on, and it shone bright enough not to leave any shadows on the ground. Their doors were all shut tight enough that no light would show through anywhere out-side. The electronic voice droned on. "Five...four...three...." The first shock waves of the enemy hit. "Two... one.... Black out initialized." 


	2. Chapter two

Alex looked at Julia with a blank stare. "What?" "......" "What?!" "Yeah, this is gonna work out for the next seventy two or more hours." "Seventy two...." Julia let out a moan and hit her head a few times on the wall. Alex looked over the room, glad Heero had let her design the rooms. There were two beds that were big enough for one person each. These were on different walls from eachother, and there was a door behind each bed. One rolled-up cot lay under a bed, in case there were more than two people per room. A small refrigerator was set into the far wall, next to the last escape door. There was a small bookshelf on the other side of the door, with about twenty books. On the top of the bookcase was a small headset that played microchips containing music. The microchips were lined up on the other side of the headset. Every type of music was set out, but there were obvious amounts of more of two types of music. It was cozy, but nothing was too close together. The walls had been painted a blue that went from light blue at the top, down to a deep blue that was almost black. It gave the room depth and matched the blue bedspreads that were lain out on each bed. There were different color-schemes for each room, it made it easier to get bedspreads that matched the paint in each room. Not that it mattered.... Oh jeez, Alex thought. I'm worried about what the rooms look like. I've been spending too much time with Julia. "Nice room, Alex." Julia walked over to the bed on the right side and turned down the covers. She grinned, "Even the sheets match. I've been rubbing off on you." "I was just thinking that. How fortunate for me." Julia looked over at Alex, cocking her head to one side. "I bet, even if we don't get found-out by Plague, we won't make it out of here alive." "If I bet against that, I'll lose."  
  
Julia sat there and hit the back of her head against the wall as she listened to the Christian chips. She looked over at Alex who was laying down reading books. In the last twenty-four hours they'd heard the troops moving in and settling on the grounds of the base and house. The house, from what they could tell, was already destroyed. It was just a good thing they'd moved the Gundams when they had. Alex got up and walked over to the door. Julia took off the headset so she could hear and sighed. She hadn't realized the music was up so loud. Alex opened the door to her father. He came in and went straight for Julia with something in his hand and a glass of water. "What's this?" Julia asked sitting up. "Birth control pills. I don't want you getting pregnant for not being protected. What would Duo say if he found out I'd let his daughter get pregnant before she was old enough to drink?" "That you were a failure." Julia said with a sigh. She took the pills and glass of water, putting the pills in her mouth and drink the water in two gulps. Heero sat down on the bed beside her and looked at Alex. She got the hint and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind her. Heero looked back at Julia as she pulled her knees up to her chest. "You're going to try and have a heart-to-heart, aren't you?" "Yes." "God help me." She said and smiled. Heero grinned and looked down to his hands in his lap, then back up. "I know you're almost eighteen, and old enough to make your own decisions, but..." he stopped for a moment and looked back at his lap. He looked deep in thought. "Your father gave me you so I could raise you, before he'd died he'd asked me to take care of you. For me not to let you make some of the mistakes he'd made-that any of us made. You kids, you guys are so much more different than we were. " "But we've grown up like you guys. We-" "We never wanted you guys to go out and fight in the war, Julia. We hadn't planned for anything like this to happen. The only reason you guys did fight is because we couldn't. "I'm afraid I might fail in the promise I made to Duo. That I won't be able to keep it. He was, as much as I had hated to admit it, my best friend. When your mother... died... he... your father was lost for sometime. Like Alex is with you, I held it together for him while he tried to figure things out." Julia moved her legs so she was sitting cross-legged. She'd changed into pants and a sweatshirt during the wait, and the trench coat was on the bed next to her. "How did you and my father meet?" Heero grinned, looked over at her and leaned back against the wall. He had the look in his eyes that he was remembering something funny. "When we met, I was just about to shoot Relena. I had been detonating torpedoes to destroy my Gundam, and she'd come to stop me from killing anyone." "She was kinda annoying back then, wasn't she?" Heero laughed. "A little." "Anyways." "When Duo and I first met he shot me, twice. And from then on we saved each other from all these things and later just hung out." "How did my mother meet him?" "At a party Relena was throwing for our wedding. She was Relena's secretary at the time, and when Duo and her met there was an automatic attraction." He looked down again, this time away so Julia couldn't see his expression. "What?" He looked back. "I never really liked her, there was something that was just... I don't know. I told your father this, and he didn't talk to me until you were born and Alanis died. He'd said he'd never felt sad and happy at the same time, but when that happened he felt it hard. And he said he suddenly believed in God. "He raised you the best he could, Julia. And him and your mother weren't married when you were born, and Alanis wasn't twenty-one yet. That's why Duo asked me to take care of you, why I don't want you getting pregnant until you're married and older. I don't want to fail with Duo up there watching me. I'm supposed to be the 'perfect soldier', and I guess that brings people to think I can be the 'perfect parent' as well." "You've done the best you could have, Heero." "I know I've done well, but when I saw you and Zero out there tonight... I had a sudden image of Duo taking his scythe and beating me over the head with it. I wouldn't like it if I saw Alex doing something like that because she's my daughter, and I realized you are my daughter too." Julia stared at Heero, mouth agape. She closed her mouth, and then sighed. "I won't let myself get pregnant before I'm married, Heero. I have my morals." "And they're like your father's." "Is that good?" He grinned, "Sometimes." He stood up and walked to the door. "I'll go now, I think this heart-to-heart stuff has been giving me a soft heart." He opened the door and started through. "Heero," "Yeah?" "Thanks." "Yeah." He walked out and Alex came back in. "Heart-to-heart?" She asked sitting on her bed. "Mm hm." "I'm sorry." "It was actually pretty interesting." "Well, I think that must have been the most words you've ever heard him say?" "Uh huh. When you get him going he does talk a lot." Alex laughed. "Yeah? Our heart-to-hearts are consistent of stares and grunts. The occasional, 'I love you, your my daughter, don't screw up.'s. Very nice when you're talking about the birds and the bees." Julia and her laughed together. "He didn't know what to say when we had that talk. I think he was used to having you just sit there quietly, and I come up with all these questions." "He sent my mom in. I remember that." Alex laughed harder. "He always said you were as talkative as your father, but more inquisitive and a little less annoying." "Yeah, I heard about-" BOOM. CRACK. The laughter stopped and they both looked toward the door. It seemed to be warping in toward them, then snapped back into place with another 'crack'. Screams were heard outside the room and Julia grabbed her gun from were it was hid on her thigh holster. Slowly Alex and her stepped closer to the door. Alex's eyes went wide when she put her hand to the door, and suddenly grabbed Julia. Julia went flying back as Alex pushed her away, followed by the dark brunette who held Julia down. PTCHEW. BOOM. The door exploded, and Julia saw what was on the other side. "Zechs?"  
  
Zechs Peacecraft stood there holding a gun. He pointed it at the two girls as men rushed by in back of him. "You spineless coward." Alex hissed raising her gun as well. "You traded us off, you cad-" "Ah, ah, ah, no name calling." He looked at Julia who was sitting on the ground, the gun went to rest aimed at her heart. He cocked the gun and pulled of the safety. It clicked, and another click sounded after. Julia winced and he grinned, "You shoot me, Julia goes next. You'll have two lives on your hands that wouldn't have been necessary." "You wouldn't shoot me." Julia whispered harshly. "No, but I would." Tarmine stepped out from in back of Zechs, her purple hair pulled back in a bun. She held up her gun and cocked it, pulling off safety and pointing it at Julia. Zechs watched Julia's face, how it turned from fear to anger, then back to fear. "What'd you do with the others?" she whispered softly. "If you hurt anyone..." Alex started. "You're in no place to pose threats upon us. The others are being taken to a center downtown. You can't-oomph!"  
  
"I'm gonna get you kid! ARGH!" "Not if I have anything to say about it!" Zero shot up and triple kicked the guard. This wasn't so hard once you got out of the shackles. He bent down and grabbed the man's automatic, cocking it and taking the belt of bullets. He put them on and ran back towards the house, shooting the men that got in his way. He had to get to Julia, to see if Tarmine had gotten the two girls out of Zechs's reach. He knew Tarmine wouldn't kill Julia, even if she didn't like her. Tarmine was too loyal to her father and to his. "Hey you!" Zero spun around and cursed as a bullet bit into his left arm. He held up his gun and shot the man that had shot him. "That's what you get for SCREWING AROUND!" he did a three-sixty and shot al the while, hitting anyone near enough to hit. The bullets ran out and he dropped the gun, running into the demolished house. He kicked a wall that was still up and ran inside, descending a staircase that would lead him straight to Julia and Alex's room. Sudden flashes of the old war flowed through his head. Reminders of when Julia was almost killed. "God, Lord, don't let me be too late."  
  
Alex shot her gaze toward Tarmine. She'd hit Zechs in the back of the head with her gun, and was now grinning. "Come on, you really think I would shoot you guys after all we've done for eachother? I still owe Julia for beating the crap out of those kids in eleventh." A pounding sound came from one of the room's doors and Alex spun to set her gun on the door. Tarmine watched Julia hold her gun up and carefully walk to it. She opened it, dropped the gun, and grabbed onto Zero. "I thought they took you already!" She cried into his neck. Zero winced and moved his arm from her grasp. "What happened?" "Just a love tap, nothing bad." "A love tap?" Tarmine asked raising an eyebrow. "Yeah," he grinned. "The guy really loved me, so I shot him back. It's one of them their love/hate relationships." "That's enough screwing around, we need to get out of here." Alex said picking Julia's gun back up. "Listen, right now we have about forty guards that aren't busy doing anything. They won't be that hard to get by, but we might want to get somewhere that they won't be able to find us. Our best bet is in the labyrinth." Tarmine said to the other three. She turned to Julia, "Isn't there a medical lab somewhere in there?" "A small one. It's like the fall-out shelter, but it's hidden so well only me, Heero and Alex can find it. It's also guarded by three cats and two wolves." "Alright, let's get going." The four of them started down the halls at a jog, running down the twisting and turning maze. Julia stopped and slammed her fist into the wall, and they all descended down into a dark hole. "Isn't this an oubliette?" Zero asked holding his arm. "No, the oubliettes don't give warning when you fall into them." Alex said as she took a small flashlight from her pocket. She shone it on the far wall and Julia walked over to it, placing her hands on the wall. It lit up, flashed out and things started to beep. Tarmine suddenly gasped and yelped. There was something warm rubbing on her legs, and it was whimpering. The wall started to open and she looked down to see a small, tawny wolf with one blue eye and one brown. It looked up at her, then over at Julia and ran to the girl. "It looks so real." "This one is. I come down every day to feed and water him." Julia picked up the pup and carried him into the medical room on the other side. The others followed and Zero sat on one of the beds. There were five beds and a lot of shiny machines and cabinets. The whole room was white and silver, with packs of IV's hung here and there. The doors and the floor that they come from went back up to make it look like nothing had happened in the labyrinth. Not even Zechs, if he woke, could find this place.  
  
"How did you come down here? You haven't visited anyone for a couple of weeks." Alex said. "There are ways to get in." She sat the small pup down and it yipped, chasing its tail playfully. She walked over to a cabinet and opened it, taking out different items for Zero. Alex sat down on the ground and patted on her lap for the wolf. It yipped again and ran to her, licking her face. She looked up as Julia passed and stood up with the puppy in her arms. She was interested to see how Zero would react to Julia's medical skills. Julia set the small tray down by Zero. She put a rubber band around his upper arm, right above the wound, and then took up a needle. "You never used anesthetics on my gun shots." "You're related to Heero Yuy, you can stand the pain." She looked up at Zero. "Tell me when it's numb. It's still gonna hurt, but not as much as it would if I didn't put this stuff on it." "Gee, thanks." Alex said sarcastically. Zero smiled softly, "It's numb." "As numb as your head." Tarmine looked at Alex and grinned. "I don't think they hear you." "Me either." Julia took up a small tool that looked like tweezers and gently put them in the wound. Zero winced and his right hand balled into a fist, but he kept himself still as Julia kept working. She took out the bullet and everyone's eyes widened. "It's an exploding bullet. How did they get these? I thought only we had the ability to create these." Tarmine said taking the bullet from Julia. Alex's eyes narrowed. How dare he, "Remember, Zechs is a traitor. Zero's lucky it hit him how it did. It disabled the exploding device before it had a chance to react." Julia looked up at Zero and tears welled in her eyes. "My Zero, you could have been killed coming to save me." "But I wasn't, Julia. I wouldn't leave you here alone. I'm not leaving 'til you are." Julia nodded and hugged him gently, then went back to fixing his wound. Alex watched this show with a slight gagging sensation in her stomach. Also the realization that Julia and Zero really did care for eachother. Though they drove eachother up the wall, they helped eachother in difficult times. It was very interesting, sickening, and confusing all at the same time. Julia finished wrapping a bandage around Zero's arm and he hoped down off the table, sweeping Julia off the ground and into his arms. "Oh jeez." Tarmine moaned. "Oh no." Alex agreed. This was followed by a small puppy moan from the wolf and his head going down to rest on Alex's arm.  
  
Julia grinned as Zero kissed her deeply. She kissed back and let him play at her lips for a moment. "Come on, we don't have time for this." Tarmine said with a sigh. Zero pulled away and looked at her for a moment. "Yes we do, you said so yourself." "What's the wolf's name?" Alex asked Julia while she still had the ability to talk. "It's Star." She looked back up at Zero as he put her on the medical table, taking the tray of tools away from it. He climbed up and laid a little on top and to the side of her, leaning down to kiss her deeply. "Oh goody, are we going to have a lesson in sex-ed.?" Alex asked with a very deep, dark sarcasm. "If you want." Julia said grinning. She reached up and kissed Zero deeply, letting her tongue run over Zero's. Their tongues explored each other's mouths and when Julia looked over to see if the two other girls were watching she saw Alex holding Star and Tarmine gawking. Alex's eyes were wide, and it made Julia laugh. "What's wrong, Alex?" "I've never seen anyone kissing that deep. It looks like Zero's eating off your face." Zero laughed and let his head drop a little. It brought his face a little close to the swell of Julia's breasts, and she was suddenly very aware of him and the two others in the room. "Not here." "I know." He raised his face to hers again and kissed her, then got up on his knees and looked down at her smiling softly. "You're a dork." "But I'm a cute dork." "So?" Julia laughed softly and sat up, pulling Zero down to lie by her. She entwined her left hand fingers with his right and let their legs entwine as well. Star yelped and pushed out of Alex's hold, hopping onto the bed between them. "Might as well get comfy," she started. "We'll have to wait a few more hours to get away."  
  
Zero looked back over to Julia as she lay shaking on the bed. Her scar was white against the paleness of her skin. Sweat ran down her face and soaked the front of her sweatshirt. Zero paced back and forth of the bed as Alex sat on another bed reading through a medical books. During the last few hours Julia had gone into a sort of shock. Tremors had started to run through her body every now and then, and Zero was on the edge of panic. Star sat by Julia's head and licked her face, then whimpered and laid by her, putting his head on her chest. "Did she take anything? Come on, why can't you figure this out?!" "Don't yell at me, Zero, it won't help me find what's wrong. The only thing she took was-" Alex looked up and thought back when her father had come. "What is it? What's wrong?!" "Zero, calm down." Tarmine said softly. "I can't calm down." "My dad came in and he... he didn't look right. He gave her birth control pills, but they were little capsules. I-" "AAAAHHHH!!!" Star yipped and fell back from Julia as she screamed out. Zero raced to her bedside and Alex dropped the book, hopping down from the bed she sat on. Tarmine went over, too, holding a cold, wet towel in her hands. Julia's eyes snapped open and she sat up, screaming again in terror. "IT'S COMING, IT'S COMING. NO! I DON'T WANT TO GO!" Zero grabbed Julia and climbed onto the bed as she thrashed around. He didn't want her to hurt herself. "AAAAHHHHH!!! GET OFF OF ME, GET OFF! I DON'T WANT TO DIE LIKE THIS!!! LET ME GO!!!" tears were streaming down her face and sounds too primitive to be screams escaped her mouth. "Alex, what's wrong?!" "I don't know," Alex said with a shaky voice. Tarmine looked at them from the side. "What did your father look like when he came in?" "Like he was lost in thought. His eyes were dilated..." her eyes widened. "No. How?" "You father was the only one that ate dinner, am I right?" "No, Zechs was in there with him." Her eyes narrowed and she formed the letter 'o' with her lips. Zero got it just as Alex did. Her father had been drugged somehow, and had been controlled to take the capsule of only God knew what to Julia. Julia started to scream again, and Star jumped down of the bed to hide in the corner. "I DON'T WANT TO DIE!!!" "Julia, you won't, I'm here Julia." He bent down and put his forehead to her neck. "Please, Julia, remember me." "AAAAHHHH!!!" Alex was suddenly at their side with a needle in her hand. It was filled with a clear liquid that she carefully injected into Julia's trapped arm. The screaming stopped and Julia just lay there panting. Zero looked up at her and she started to cry again. He sat up and took her into his lap, holding her like a baby. "What was that?" "A serum I found in the book. Seems my cousin had figured out how to control the minds of people. In this case, he took Julia's fear of dying and gave her visions of a painful death." "You figured that all out?" he looked down at Julia in his arms. Tears threatened to come from his eyes as a thought crossed his mind. Julia wasn't afraid of dying, she never had been, and it was just how and when that scared her. She'd faced death in all forms of painless and quick, but never had she gone up against the unknown and uncertain. If she didn't know that it would or would be quick, then she wouldn't do it. "I'm the one that created the formulae for mind-control in the first place. I used to use it on Julia when she had nightmares, but I did the opposite effect. I gave her dreams of butterflies and flowers. He added something to turn the effect around."  
  
"Poor Julia." Tarmine whispered. She was sorry now for not liking the girl. Julia hadn't done anything to her. If anything she'd done a lot for her. As the four of them sat there, Julia trembling in Zero's arms, Tarmine recollected on the first time Julia had stuck up for her. It was in eleventh grade, after Tarmine had been beaten up by two of the more popular kids in school. Julia and Zero had always been at the top of the popular list, and no one would have expected Julia to stick up for Tarmine. "Did Julia Maxwell just stick up for me?" She'd asked as she was being taken onto the ambulance. "Yeah, she beat the crap out of both Brent and Courtney." "Isn't she still on probation?" "Yeah, and she violated it for you." Tarmine grinned. "She's a cool kid." "I know. I just figured that one out when I saw what she did to Brent." he bent down and kissed her forehead. "I'll get her and we'll follow you to the hospital." "Alright." Tarmine sighed and handed Zero the wet towel. He took it and gently placed it on Julia's forehead. "There's a war coming. You know who is behind this whole thing. She's planning on getting Julia back." Tarmine whispered. "I know." Zero said delicately. They both looked at Julia, she was sound asleep in Zero's arms, occasionally sniffling softly. "How will we tell her?" "We won't." Alex said simply. She pushed off the wall from where she'd been leaning, walking over to them. "We can't tell Julia, not after all the secrets everyone has kept from her." "She has to know." Tarmine said. "No she doesn't." Alex argued. "I don't have to know what?" Julia whispered from where her head lay in the crook of Zero's arm. "Nothing, angel of mine. Go back to sleep." He looked down at Julia, into her innocent blue eyes. She nodded and rested her head on his shoulder, kissing his neck once, then falling to sleep again. "We can't tell her." Alex pleaded. Zero looked up at Tarmine, then to Alex. "We won't tell her yet, but sooner or later she'll find out." Alex nodded and sighed. "I just hope it's later." "Me too." Tarmine said quietly. Zero kissed behind Julia's ear gently, lying back with her in his arms. "Yeah." 


	3. Chapter three

"Zechs?" The sharp smell of something like burnt sulfur stung Zechs's smell. He bolted away and moaned, grabbing the back of his head. He looked up to see a blonde woman with iced blue eyes. The woman would be eighteen years older than him that year, making her thirty-seven. The skin around her eyes and mouth was starting to wrinkle, much like Zechs's mother and aunt. But this woman, no matter the age, would have a fierceness to her that no one else could match. Not even her sister. "Where are the other kids? Our agreement was that you would get them and get out, I gave you a large enough team. Where's Barton?" Zechs shook his head and stood up, dusting his clothes off. "She was using us all along, Madam Catalonia. She'd hit me in the back of the head with her gun and they all took off." "Are you making an excuse, Peacecraft?" "No, madam, only stating a fact." "Very well, then. I have men stationed at every opening to the maze. They will not escape us." "What if they come back out this way? I know you don't have guards stationed this close." "Don't need them." She brushed over her eyebrows, the thin lines that were the only difference between Dorothy and her. "They wouldn't come back out this way, and you know it as much as anybody else." She turned and snapped her fingers as she walked out. "And by the way, I will be writing this on you record. I asked you to bring back my daughter, if not anyone else, and you failed in that first assignment. Is that fair?" Zechs looked down at his feet. "Yes, Alanis."  
  
It was a slow and careful movement, but Julia managed to do it without threat of a headache. She opened her eyes, slowly so the lights didn't blind her, and looked up. She was in Zero's arms again, and he was looking over at the wall. Something about his expression made her sad. He looked scared. "Zero?" her voice was soft, questioning, and shaky. She was still a little under the influence of her fear, but seeing him like this.... Zero looked down at Julia, a soft smile ran itself over his face and he pulled her up a little to hug her. "I was scared for you, Julia." "I know, Zero." She raised her hand up and stroked his face gently. He didn't look afraid anymore, he looked more at peace. "We're going to have to get out of here. If Zechs was able to get those capsules into Julia, then he may be able to control her by saying something or using a remote control." The two of them looked over at Alex, Zero shook his head. "But how? They probably have every entrance blocked-" "But this one. We know she isn't going to block this entrance because she doesn't know what we know." "Who's 'she'?" Julia asked. Tarmine interrupted, "You're forgetting Zechs. He's smart. He knows that if we're cornered we're going the only way we can. And we still have to watch out for the soldiers. Even if we do get out of here, they'll be stationed all around the labyrinth." "Who's 'she'?" "Then we'll fight our way out." Alex said. "Who's 'she'?" Zero shook his head again, "They have more than likely emptied our weaponry." "Come on, you guys, you're purposefully not answering my question. " The two girls looked over toward Julia, Zero looked down. They all looked away at the same time. "What?" "We can't tell you yet." Alex said softly. "Why not?" "It has to do with something we were sworn not to tell you. In the name of your father, we're not going to tell you until we have to." Julia nodded and sighed. "Fine. If my father wanted to keep it a secret from me, then I'll wait until the right time." The three of them looked at eachother, then back at Julia. "That was easier than I thought." Alex mumbled. Tarmine nodded, then started back up with getting out of the medical room. "Alright. We need to get out of here and soon. We don't have enough supplies here to take care of four people and a dog. I say we get up there and figure out what to do from there." "That sounds like something Julia would come up with." Zero said softly, pinching Julia's side. She giggled, "That's something I wanted to come up with." "Then it's settled, we get up there, probably through one of the tunnels that lead into the house." Alex said. She then went over to where Julia and Zero sat, held one of Julia's hands. "Get up, I have to do something." "Ok...." Julia looked at her unsure, but slowly got up from Zero's lap. She stood up shakily in front of Alex, and the looked at the darker haired girl. "What?" "This is just for all of our safety." Julia's eyes widened a split second before she was bent over with Alex's fist in her stomach. "Wh...why....?" "Like I said, for our safety." The last thing Julia remembered was falling into someone's arms, then the room went black.  
  
"I don't see why you had to punch her." Zero pouted. He was carrying Julia over his shoulder, her whole body limp. She was unconscious and had been for the last ten minutes. "If Zechs could control her mind like that, we don't know if he can control her mind now. It was for our safety as well as hers." "Couldn't you have just given her a shot or something?" "Stop whining, Zero, and keep walking." Tarmine said pushing the butt of the gun into the small of his back. Alex sighed as they came to the last door, opening it carefully. She looked outside, gun raised, and looked back in. "They totally demolished my whole house. Are you sure they took my parents and yours to some base?" "I'm pretty certain. They can't take them anywhere else for at least forty-eight hours. And she'll want to set a trap with them. That was her plan the whole time. She's gonna keep them alive for us to go and get, and that was the only thing I'd heard her say, 'If someone rats us out, we still have this back-up plan.' It's kinda sad, really." "Yeah, real sad. This woman pretends to die during child birth, then gets her husband killed six years later, and you think it's sad." "Shut up, Zero." "Make me, Tammy." "Children." The two of them looked over to Alex. "Come on, we don't have all day." "Right." Tarmine said. She went over to the door as well and they held up their guns, walking out carefully. Zero was close behind, stopping for a second to gently change carrying positions to where his left arm was under Julia's knees and his right under her back. The girl's right cheek was lightly pressed to Zero's chest, and the same side arm draped lightly over her stomach, the other dangling loosely. The past few hours had brought dawn to the scene. They could see all the damage that had been done well. It was like some psychopath had come in with a wrecking ball and bombs and had blown everything up. Wind gently brushed by, and smoldering ashes lit up in half-hearted flames. The three teens all looked up to see the same thing, a mobile suit, the new model Scorpio, that was hovering above them. "This just keeps getting better and better." Alex mumbled while stepping backwards. Zero felt Julia move and looked down at her as the Scorpio was landing. She had woken up, and was looking at the mobile suit. "That worked well, Alex." Zero said softly. Julia looked from the suit to him and grimaced. "She punched me, didn't she?" "Yeah." They both looked back to the suit as Zero gently let Julia down. Tarmine and Alex backed up and they each circled around Julia. The cockpit opened to reveal a blonde woman, as well as Zechs.  
  
The blonde woman smiled, and Julia suddenly felt like this person was familiar. Very familiar. She walked into the palm of the suits hand as it came to the cockpit. Gracefully she rode it down to the ground, stepping off even more gracefully. She walked over to the four, and Julia felt all three of the people around her become tense. "Hello Zero, Tarmine, Alex." "What do you want?" Alex asked, hiding her gun in back of herself. "Oh, you know what I want." She came closer, pushing Zero out of the way, making sure to dig her grab into his wound. Julia stared at the woman, her lips pressed tight. "You look a lot like your father. What a shame." She had a German accent, subtle but there. She was almost sickeningly thin, and when she gave an awkward grin the corners of her eyes and mouth crinkled. "What do you mean by that, you old hag?" "Oh! And her father's sense of humor too!" The lady clapped her hands, and she suddenly looked twenty years younger. It was a trick of genetics. The brunette could tell this woman was part Lunarian. She could change the difference in age automatically. "She doesn't know who you are." Zero whispered, almost sounding as though he were begging her not to say anything. The woman's eyebrows went up, her eyes wide, then narrowed. "No one has told her?! What did you people tell her?" "You were dead." Julia froze. This was the big secret. This woman, this evil, wretched traitor was her mother. "You're not my mother." "Oh, indeed I am. Look at my eyes, my lips. They're the only resemblance we have of eachother. You are my daughter, and I will be taking you with me." "Over my dead body." Zero whispered. "Oh! Gladly!" Before anyone had time to react the woman put her hand to Zero's chest and his eyes rolled back, shutting, then he fell to the ground. "Zero..."  
  
Zechs grimaced as he watched what Alanis did, turning his head when Zero fell to the ground. He looked back and saw Julia just standing there, not moving. Her eyes were suddenly blank and her whole body seemed to relax. He grabbed a small transmitter that sat in his pocket, clicking it on. Quietly, he spoke into it, "Julia," her face turned upward for just a moment, then she bent down beside Zero. "He's not dead, Julia. What your mother did just now only rendered him unconscious. In a couple of minutes he'll be back to normal." Even from where he sat, he could see the relief on Julia's face, and even more when she put her fingers to his neck artery. She looked from Zero to the two girls, then to her mother. "You're not my mother. The woman my father loved wouldn't have just done that." "Well, you see, your father may have loved me, but I didn't love him. My name is Alanis Catalonia, sister of Dorothy Catalonia...." she reveled in the surprised looks of the three girls. "And we are not the most trustworthy of people around here. You should know that mostly by now." Julia's face was angry, so was Tarmine and Alex's. Julia stood from Zero's felled body and gave a death glare Heero Yuy would have been proud of. Zechs smiled and then tried to hide it, not having to as soon as Julia started forward and fell limp beside Zero.  
  
"Good job, Zero. That big mouth of yours gave all of us some help. Now we don't have to find the base, their TAKING US TO IT!!!" Alex grinned as she watched Tarmine and Zero fight, then frowned when she looked over to Julia. She was sitting in a corner, knees to her chest, face toward the wall. "I DIDN'T KNOW SHE'D ACTUALLY DO THAT!!!" "SHE SHOULD HAVE FREAKIG KILLED YOU FOR ALL I CARE! ALL YOU EVER DO IS OPEN YOUR MOUTH WHEN YOU SHOULDN'T!" Julia looked over to the two fighting teens and stood up. She walked in between them and shoved her hands to each of their chests, breaking them apart. "What good is it to have an enemy when we ALREADY HAVE PEOPLE TO FIGHT WITH?! Shut UP and sit DOWN and try to think of a way to get out of this. I don't find this anymore fun than either of you do, but at least I am NOT blaming it on OTHER PEOPLE!" She turned around and walked back to her corner, sitting tighter than before. They were all in a truck. A very big truck. And they were being taken to the Plague base their parents were being held in. There was no way to get out of the truck and make it to a main road alive. Unless you were to stop the truck. "That's it." Alex said, a little too loudly. The other three looked at her a little oddly. "Talking to yourself again, Alex?" Julia asked with a sardonic grin. "What? Oh, no. Listen. If we were to stop the truck and get to drive it where we need, then we can use their map and get away for ourselves. There's a base somewhere near here that has old-type mobile suits, we could use them to raid the Plague base." "Great thinking, Alex. Do you suppose we could stop at the salon and get our hair done while we're at it?" "I sense a strong amount of sarcasm, Jules." "Well, DUH. And how, Genius, do you suppose we stop the truck?" Alex just looked at Julia. "Yeah, you have been hanging too long around me." "I know, here." They both looked at Tarmine as she took out her gun. She walked over to the back wall and pointed it where the driver's head should be. "I shoot, we stop, get out, and make it to the nearest road." "Good idea." Zero said. Julia and Alex both stood up to stop her, but Tarmine fired the gun. "Not good." Alex said softly. "Why?" The truck lurched to the right and both Tarmine and Zero fell over, followed by Alex and Julia. The world seemed to spin as the truck flipped over a few times, finally ending in a slide and a few tumbles down a steep hill. There was another slam as the truck smacked into another hillside, and the moving stopped. Alex sat up quickly, then grabbed her head. Blood ran down her arms and forehead, and a sickening dizziness overwhelmed her, darkness threatening to overtake her vision. As hard as she fought it, unconsciousness barreled into Alex and she slumped over to lean against the wall. "Ah hahaha! Hehehe! Come on, Alex!" "Wait Julia! I can't run in these stupid things as well as you can! I'm not used to dresses." The two girls ran through the fields, still wearing the flower girl dresses they'd used earlier in the day. It had been one of Zero's sister's weddings, and they'd been the flower girls. Alex the resentful one. "Haha! Hehehe! You can't catch me!" The smaller girl raced quicker into the tall grass, her long hair coming out of its bun. Alex sighed, hitching the white, frilly, dress up to her knees. Her dark brown hair had fallen out long before Julia's. "Where are we going anyways, Julia?" "You'll see! You'll like it too! It's real neat!" Her childish laughter came back to Alex as they both entered a dark forest of mostly weeping willows. As they went in farther, the forest seemed to glow by its own light. Lightening bugs flew by here and there, showing off small mushrooms that also seemed to glow. "Umph! Hey, hehehe, watch where you're going!" Julia smiled brightly and hugged her best friend. "Just a little further." The small six year old grabbed onto the other girl's hand and led her to a veil of leaves from one of the largest weeping willows Alex had ever seen. She pulled them back and revealed a lagoon that was lit by an inner light. They stood on a cliff about fifty feet above the water, giving them the ability to see all of the area nicely. There were shores on the other side of the lake, decorated by weeping willows and night lilies. The water also had lilies in it, and the sound of frogs and crickets came up from the bog as well. "Wow, how did you know about this place?" Alex asked with awe. She walked out a little further and sat down on the edge of the cliff. Julia joined her and dug into her small flower basket, bringing out some small dinette cookies she'd snuck from the wedding. "I used to come here with daddy... before he died." She looked down and then over at Alex. It had only been half a year since her father had died, and if she wasn't talking about him she was happy as a clam. But this little child seemed to want to talk about her father every chance she got. Alex looked out at the scenery even as Julia continued. "He said that this was mommy's favorite place in the whole world. She loved so much to come here and swim with him, and he told me this is where he prayed when mommy died. And I remember it, too. When I was just born he took me here and held me and told me he loved me, and mommy loved me even though she was gone and never got to hold me. And that even if I couldn't see her, she was still here on earth watching over me." She suddenly stopped and started to cry. The darker headed girl looked over at the smaller, slightly younger child. She sat cross-legged and pulled Julia into her lap, hugging her gently. "It's ok, Julia. You got us all, and we love you too." "I know... I just... miss him. My mommy died 'cause of me, and my daddy died 'cause he didn't listen to me. I told him not to go, I asked him to stay home with me, and he didn't. He left me after telling me he'd be back as soon as he could, and he never came back. And I don't want to lose all of you. I don't want to lose anymore fam'ly." Alex's eyes closed as tears met them, then opened them and let one tears escape. "You can't lose any of us, you didn't even lose your mommy and daddy. We're all here, and we'll always be here. You're like my sister, and you can't lose your sister." "What about the others?" "You can't lose them, neither. My mommy and daddy are like yours, and Tarmine and Zero's family is ours too. And," she giggled her seven-year-old giggle. "I think Zero likes you!" "Likes me?! Yucky!" they both broke out in a giggle fit, and by the time they were done they were both laying on the ground, the tops of their heads touching. "So, you're my sister?" "Forever." "I like that." Alex smiled, "Me too."  
  
"It's not gonna work," Tarmine said for the fifth time. She sighed as Zero looked over at her while he wiggled one of Julia's hairpins in the lock on the door. "Jules got it to work once." "That was on a door that had a lock that locked from the inside as well as the outside. This one only locks from the outside." Zero looked over to Julia helplessly. She was shaking awake Alex and mumbling to herself. "It's your fault." he said to Tarmine. "Nuh uh, it's yours." "Yours!" "YOURS!" "THAT'S ENOUGH!" Julia yelled. They both stopped and looked at her. Zero sighed and scooted beck from the door. "Now what are you doing?" "I think it's just jammed, we'll have to break it down. He looked at Tarmine, who's arm was badly bruised and bleeding. His gaze then went to Alex, who was holding her arm too. A trickle of blood was running down her forehead. She had just woken up, and was giving off her 'death glare'. "I'll help." Julia said in an oddly cheerful voice. "Alright." "On the count of three." Her and Zero both stood a little back from the door. "One... two... "Zero!" SMACK. "I never said 'three'." "I knew that." "It seems that when I hit my head it transferred the after shock into Zero's brain. Good going Zero." Alex said sarcastically. "We never said he was the brightest crayon in the box." Julia said with a grin, helping Zero up. "Alright, wait 'til I count to three." "Ok." Zero said with a bright red blush. "One... two... three!" Zero and Julia both ran full-tilt toward the door. BOOM. Alex looked at the two, shook her head as they fell to the ground, and stood up and walked to the door. With one swift movement she pulled it open. "Obviously neither are you are the bright crayons." "I'm sorry, my mother's blonde." This time her voice had a soft, menacing tone to it. "I wanna know what happened. You guys seem to know an awful lot about my mother. I want to know what really happened." "Later, Julia, right now we have to get out of here." "I'm not moving until I'm told." Zero looked to Tarmine, Tarmine to Alex, Alex back to Zero. "Please." Zero looked at Julia. Tears were in her eyes, and her arms were crossed over her chest. She only did that when she was really upset. If he didn't love her as much as he did, he wouldn't have thought to tell her. But he had to. "You guys go ahead, I know my way to the base. I'm gonna stay with Julia for a minute." The two girls nodded and walked out the door, Alex looking back a second before they both disappeared into the woods. Julia looked to Zero, she was fighting back sobs and it showed. She made small sounds in her throat, like she was whimpering. "Jules... I..." "Why didn't... you tell me?" She did whimper. "You guys... lied... to me. All... my life." She kept sniffling between words, tears falling from her face to the ground. "I would have, but your father didn't want you to find out what really happened." "So you all... lied! What else have you...lied about? Do you really... care for me? Or is that a lie too!?" Zero's eyes widened and he took a step back. Of course not, of course it wasn't a lie. But he saw where she was coming from. "No, Julia, it isn't a lie. I love you more than anything on earth. In this universe. The only reason we had to keep this from you is because your father didn't want you to know your mother was a traitor." "Even when he was... dying? I mean, come... on, Zero. No one would want to keep... that kind of secret if their... lover was a... traitor." Zero looked down, then back up at her. He walked to her and wrapped his arms around her, holding her as she cried. "I just want to know." "Then I'll tell you what I know. Ok? But you have to stop crying and smile for me when I'm done, then we can go kick Plague butt." Julia, despite her crying, laughed softly. "Ok." Zero took in a deep breath and began. "A year before you were born, your mother and father were having small arguments. Nothing bad, but it made Alanis very angry at Duo. She joined a small group with her sister, Dorothy, and they started recruiting people to join their military, the Plague. The first few people were women, then men and all started to join too. Alanis and Dorothy and the first few people started to spread a rumor it was the Gundam Pilots' faults they were in a depression. "Then the remaining troops of Oz, the Barton Foundation, the Trieze Faction, and the Alliance got involved, helping to manufacture weaponry. Alanis started getting ideas on how to get rid of Duo, but she'd have to disappear for a while before she got the plan into action. That's when..."  
  
"Who were the first women?" "Dorothy, you mother, my aunt Ilea. And we found out last night that Sally Po was involved. Wufei Chang had also been one of the first members." "Lady Une didn't join?" Zero paused. Damnit. "No, she wasn't. She had nothing to do with your father's death, either. Or... she did, but not purposefully." "So I shot the wrong person." Zero sighed, hugging her tightly. "You made a mistake. You didn't know. They framed her well, and even we thought she was guilty for some time." Julia didn't say anything, so he continued the story. "That was when Alanis came up with the idea of dying during childbirth. She got Sally Po to tell Duo about it after she delivered you, and they'd gotten Alanis out of the hospital without anyone to know any better. "A year later Duo saw your mother at a summit meeting. She'd cut her hair and died it black, but he said he could always tell it was her because of her eyes. She was representing an enemy military, and he hadn't told anyone until he was dying after being shot by Alanis. He said he always loved her, but he loved you a million times more. That's why he didn't want you to know."  
  
Tarmine stopped in mid-step, looking around her. They'd been walking for half an hour, and she'd been hearing things around them. "Alex, are you sure you didn't hear that?" "I'm busy trying to figure out these directions. You went and drove us off the cliff, so I getta get us to the base the hard way." Tarmine scowled over her shoulder, then continued to walk. "Hey guys! Wait up! We're almost there." Both girls turned at the sound of Zero's voice. He was running and pulling Julia along with him. She still looked sad, but the depression look was gone. Both Tarmine and Alex sighed, slouching a little as Julia gave off her fake smile. It fooled everyone but her real friends, and it was really starting to bug them all. "It's about time, Zero. We're lost." "No thanks to you." Alex mumbled. Julia looked at the two, then looked at Zero. "It's just a third of a mile ahead, not that far." Zero nodded and kept his eyes on Tarmine. "Why did you decide to shoot the guy?" "I didn't know we'd crash." "Children." "It seems we have to say that often." Alex said with a sarcastic tone. Crack. "What was that?" Julia asked looking around. "You heard it too? I've been hearing it since we got out of the truck, it's like someone's following us." The four kids looked around, Zero pulled Julia closer to his body, wrapping his arms around her protectively. Tarmine took out her gun and put in one of the exploding bullets she'd stored in her pocket. Suddenly seven people jumped out at the four and they all stood there shocked for a moment. Each of the strangers puled out automatic weapons and pointed them at the small group. Tarmine recognized the barrels of the guns as being the exact right size for the bullets she had. Bullets that went in clean and exploded in less than five seconds, leaving a gaping hole in the body of their victim. Bullets that, with the exception of going in wrong, killed their victim without hesitation. 


	4. Chapter four

"Right, so what are you all doing here?" Julia stared at the man in front of her. His name was Ethan, and that was all anyone had gotten out of him. "We were searching for the old Oz base." "Why?" "Because we wanted to throw a party there." Her voice had a venomous sarcasm to it. The sarcasm immediately changed to a soft pleading, "We need to use the mobile suits to get our families out of the Plague base." "Well, you guys found it." He walked over to where she was tied to an old, rusty chair and cut the ropes. Julia stood up and her I.D. card for the Preventers fell out of her pocket. He picked it up and looked at it. "Julian Maxwell? The Julian Maxwell?" "That's the one." She took her card back, pocketing it. Ethan grinned widely and took her hand, shaking it. "I am honored to be in the presence of such a great hero. And a great hero's daughter! Are all the people in your group related to the Gundam Pilots?" "That they are. And I would like them to be let go. We are only trying to get people out of that base, and we really don't have a lot of time." Ethan nodded, then frowned. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but there are no more mobile suits here." He walked to the door and put his hand to a panel beside it. The door opened and he waved her out. They started down a long hallway, and he continued to talk. "The mobile suits were all taken away by the Plague about a year ago. They tried to use our village as a base, but we got angry and burned our town down instead. We didn't want to have any military using our vegetable crops and such as a source of food. So when we burned it down, we all came here instead." He got to another panel and placed his hand on it. the door opened to reveal the rest of her group being held in place by guns pointed to them. "Put your guns down. This is Julian Maxwell, and the rest of these people are the heroes of our last war as well." The men put down their guns and looked at the four. They gave their attention to Julia like she was supposed to introduce the others. "Meet Alex Yuy, Tarmine Barton, and Zero Winner. And don't call me Julian, I like Julia." Ethan nodded and the men left. "All of us, the rest of our village, look up to you pilots. You guys are an inspiration to us." Zero went to where Julia stood, hugging her gently. "That's wonderful, but we were looking for the Oz base...." Ethan stretched out his arms, "You found it." He put them down and turned to open yet another door. It opened to a giant hangar with maybe a hundred people in it. "This is what's left." "Ethan has already explained to me that Plague has taken the mobile suits and stuff, so we're out of the game." "But you are welcome to stay here for as long as you like." "Ethan, leave the poor people alone." The five people turned to their left to see a boy with long, blonde hair, gentle green eyes, and a jacket of two shades of green and the three emblems of the Preventers. "My name is Nicolae Une, and I'm the village's leader here. I see none of you are too badly hurt, but you will be taken to the medical room anyway." He walked over to Ethan and took him aside, talking to him in a hushed tone. Julia suddenly felt a stab of pain as she realized this was the son of Lady Une. She'd seen him in court when she was younger being trailed for Lady's murder. He looked over at her and gave her the same look he'd given her in the courtroom, confused and sad, but a tinge of dislike. Ethan walked over to the group as Vic walked away. "Right, so, we'll go to the medical room, and you guys can also get new clothes and food. We have a couple of problems that we have to clear up." "What problems?" Zero asked as they walked to a farther end of the hangar. Julia tried to keep her eyes looking straight ahead, but her eyes kept glancing over to her sides. There were small children and older people looking at them as they passed. "When did you say all of this happened?" Zero asked Ethan, walking up beside Julia. He put his arms around her and Julia suddenly felt warmed. Though when had it gotten so cold? "Around the last war. A year ago. The village we'd been living in is burnt down. We all had to move here to keep shelter from the winters we have." The group came upon a small building. From the looks of it, it was an old office. There was even a dusty slide-slot with a tile that said 'office'. "Alright, here's the medical shelter. Ask the woman in there for help, and I'll be back in ten minutes."  
  
Zero sighed as he sat in the small office. In one of his hands was a mug of hot coffee, in the other was Julia's hand. She sat staring out into space, a sad look on her face. "Jules, what's wrong?" Silence. "Jules?" She looked over after a second, then let out a sigh. "Yeah?" "What's wrong? For the last hour you've been really melancholy. Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?" "Bring back Lady Une." Ah. "Jules, it wasn't your fault. You didn't have any clue she wasn't the one to have killed your father." Julia shook her head. "But I should have thought about her son. Even if she had done it, I know what it's like to have your parent ripped away from you in a second. Now I know what it's like to have lost both parents. He doesn't have his father or mother, neither do I. I know what he feels like, and I just wish there was something I could do about it." Zero didn't know what to say to that. He had never lost anyone, because he had never heard stories about his mother, and Quatre had always been there. So had the forty Maganacs and the ex-pilots. "Alright you guys, here's the deal." The four pilots looked over to Ethan. He had been pacing back and forth for the last five minutes, staring at the floor as he did this. "Nicolae is our village's leader, our number one military man, numoro- uno. He had stolen a few of Plague's good weaponry and satellite devices, and we've just gotten a word that Plague will be moving out and coming this way. They heard that you four escaped, and I guess the head of their personnel is pissed." "Yeah? Well she's a witch anyway. That's my mom who's ticked and she's probably not going to slow down until she gets at least me." Four heads turned to Julia. Zero, Tarmine and Alex looked away almost as soon as they'd given their attention to her. "What do you mean, 'that's my mom'?" "Exactly what it sounds like. Alanis Catalonia is my mother... which was unbeknownst to me before this morning." Ethan was staring at Julia, and a loud silence filled the air. "I'm sorry." Zero stood up, "I'm sorry, Ethan, but do you have any sleeping areas available? We haven't slept normally for a long time, and I'm sure all of us will cooperate better in the morning." "Yes, there are a few huts on the other side of the arena. I will ask Nicolae if you guys should be let...." "What?" "Nothing." He took a radio from his vest and switched it on. "Nicolae?" "Yes Ethan?" "Can our guests be escorted to the arena to rest?" Each of the pilots noticed to sudden change in addressing. At first it had been 'the gundam pilots', now it was, 'our guests'. "Yes, Ethan, they can be escorted to the outer premises. Just keep the locks up, Plague is moving in slowly. They won't be a problem for another forty-two hours, so twenty-four hours can be given to the pilots and our village." "Yessir." He turned off the radio and looked at the four. "Alright, please follow me." Zero stood up, still holding Julia's hand. The small group and their guide walked down a small path and into an old arena. There were few people there, but sure enough there were cozy huts alongside the farthest walls. Ethan showed them in, told them where everything was, and left in a hurry to get to 'his captain's side'. "I don't see why we're suddenly being treated like the president in an enemy's country. They're courteous, yet... snobbish?" Zero looked at Julia and smiled softly. "You're acting as though you don't care." "Care?" "About your mom. We'll have to get rid of her somehow." There was a pause. Julia looked down at the floor. "I just today found out she was my mother, Zero. The fact she's the one that killed my father makes me hate her. Just because she's my mother doesn't mean I have to care whether or not she dies." Zero locked eyes with Julia as she looked up, and sudden tears fell from her eyes. "I just want a break, Zero. Every fifteen minutes I find some horrible truth out, or I'm faced with some disgusting problem I don't want. When do I get a break from all of this?" The blonde stared at the brunette. In her weakened state, it shocked him on how much he didn't want to comfort her. He wanted suddenly to turn tail and run, but he couldn't seem to do it. "Julia...." he hesitantly walked to her, wrapping his arms around her body and pulling her into him. Carefully he laid them both down on the small creaky bed and held her. He heard a sob bubble up into her throat, and a shaking cry escaped Julia's lips. He'd never seen Julia cry so much in so many days, and it was starting to get to him. He knew she was never Super Woman, of course, but Julia's had always been strong and happy. It unnerved him to see her any less. "I'm gonna go check on the others, ok? Maybe they can help you better than me." "Don't leave me alone right now, Zero." "Jules, you'll be fine, I'll be right back." He let her go and got up, walking out of the small hut and to the one next to it. Tarmine and Alex were sitting at a small table drinking black coffee. He looked around and noticed their hut was a lot better than his and Julia's. It even had a bathroom. "Julia is crying again." Alex looked at him, "And you left her alone in the hut? Aren't you her boyfriend?" "Yeah..." "Aren't you supposed to be trying to make her happy? Or are you the one that made her start crying in the first place?" Zero looked down. He wasn't going to admit to making Julia cry... or at least starting her tear flow. "Ah." Tarmine walked over to Zero, put her fingers under his chin, and lifted his face to look directly into his eyes. "You guys have been together for over two years, and I know you love eachother more than life. Don't go ruining a perfectly good relationship because who you thought was a perfect ray of sunshine is suddenly in a fit of tears because of something you did." Zero stared at Tarmine, mouth agape. She never said anything like this, and he thought she, of all people, would understand. A sudden, sharp scream came from outside. The three straightened and ran outside. All of them knew who it was, even as they ran to the neighboring hut. Julia was set in a chair, eyes wide, body limp. She looked like a doll some child threw into a chair. A doll with blood escaping from its chest. Zero, Tarmine and Alex stared at the bloody mess in horror. There was a perfect circle in the middle of Julia's breast where blood flowed freely. Her shirt had been ripped away and shards still hung to her arms and around her waist.  
  
"Julia..." Alex stared at her best friend. Julia started to convulse and her chest exploded with another scream, and something strange happened. Julia's blood wrapped around her body. Her chest reformed and the hole filled. The blood that had came from her chest wound itself into a few micros thick, creating a blood red layer over her skin that covered her nipples and followed the length of her arms to cover her arms and hands. A ribbon ran around her bust-line, then her pants fell away in shards as the ribbon of blood slid over her groin area to make a spiral pattern up her belly. Two other 'beads' slithered themselves over her legs, curving around her slim thighs and calves to end on the top of her feet in a small spiral. The red soon changed to a gleaming silver, with patterns of cobalt blue. Her hair seemed to shiver as it turned the same color of blue, and her natural skin color seemed to pale, becoming an almost porcelain color. A sudden breath caught in Julia's through and her eyes closed, then snapped open and her body straightened. She coughed, choked, and coughed again leaning forward to gag and cough some more. "Julia...?" Alex's voice was shakier than she would have liked to hear, and it surprised her that she sounded like she was going to cry. "Alex?" Tears fell from Julia's eyes and she looked up, putting her hands over her private areas that had seemed to be exposed. "What happened? What happened?" Alex shook her head, tears coming from her own eyes, and she ran to her best friend. "I thought they'd killed you, Julia. I don't know what's happening to you, but it saved your life. Oh God, thank You." She hugged Julia, tightening her grip when Julia's body began to tremble. She felt something different about the girl. Instead of feeling weak and fragile in Alex's arms, Julia felt as though she'd gained the strength of a true Lunarian. She'd heard things about this on the news, read about it in the papers. Lunarian colonists suddenly becoming powerful after a shocking event. Though there'd only been a few cases where their powers had come from their own blood, Alex though maybe Julia was more Lunarian than anyone had known. Perhaps it was possible Duo had been part Lunarian. He had been an orphan, after all. And everyone knew that Alanis and Dorothy Catalonia were full-blooded Lunarian, now that they'd released that information on live television when Duo and Alanis had first discovered she was pregnant. Or at least Dorothy had released she was full Lunarian. So as a twin Alanis would be too. Alex let go of Julia, and stared into the pale face of Julia. The blue hair hung around her, and Alex could feel that everyone in the room but her was struck dumb. So she explained her theory, which caused more silence. "Her scar is gone." Alex turned around and looked at Tarmine, then back to Julia. The scar was gone, and in every other place Alex knew there to be scars there was nothing but perfect skin or the silver or blue 'shield'. "What's happening, Alex? If my power needed to have something like a gun shot wound to the chest or whatever, why didn't it come out when I was blown up in my Gundam?" "I don't know, but I think we might find out. For now, let's see if you can make it go back into your skin." Julia nodded, biting her bottom lip, then closed her eyes. Her eyebrows met and she suddenly looked in deep concentration. The silver and blue started to sink back into the hole that had been in her chest. As she got back her soft tan, Julia's eyes opened and she suddenly realized she wasn't dressed. Alex handed her a black trench coat, and then sighed. "You need to stop doing this." "Doing what?" "Wearing nothing under these trenches. My father would kill you if her found out you'd done this a second time in a week." "He may just be surprised. Or not. Would someone get me some clothes from the medical center?" Alex looked over at Zero, who raised his hands in defense. "Fine, fine." There was a knock on the door, and everyone in unison said "just a minute" as Julia put the coat on. Zero opened the door to Nicolae and Ethan. They looked at Zero, then at Julia, then back. "Don't ask." "I'm afraid to." Nicolae said. "I was just going to go get a pair of clothes for Julia. Excuse me." Zero pushed past the two men and down the isle of huts. Nicolae raised his eyebrows and exhaled, then smiled a smile that made both Julia and Tarmine sigh with delight. Alex just raised her eyebrows too, then crossed her arms over her chest and glare at them. "Why would you guys be here? You suddenly become our friends again?" She glared at Ethan with a repugnance that made him take a step back. "Ethan was just taking a precaution he uses sometimes. And I'm sorry for the rude first impression, there's been a lot of stress lately, and well, you know. But if ya got to know me I bet we'd all be very good friends."  
  
Julia looked at Nicolae with an attraction that she didn't even recognize. It was kind of strange, because suddenly a flood of feelings ran through her and Zero seemed not to matter at the moment. Nicolae locked eyes with her, and they didn't looked away until Zero walked back in with new clothes for Julia. He put them on the bed, then walked back out. "I think he's scared." Tarmine whispered. She walked out the door also, and Alex sighed again. "I sense a high amount of energy in the room. Maybe I should leave. Maybe I shouldn't. Maybe I should take Nicolae and Ethan outside while Julia changes, then we can talk about stuff." Alex took the two men out of the hut and Julia put on the blue flare- legs, black wide strap tank top, and lighter blue cashmere sweater that hung on her arms. She looked up from putting on and tying the black skater- style sneakers as she heard Alex, Tarmine and Zero fighting, then Nicolae's voice over theirs. "Stop it, you guys, we're not having a fight here if I can help it. You two leave the arena now." Alex, Ethan and Nicolae walked back in. They were all wearing fake smiles, and Julia could tell. "What just happened?" "Nothing at all. You should dump Zero though, he's a jerk." "I know this." "Why haven't you yet?" "His female-like PMS isn't a good enough reason to dump him." "How about him making out with Tarmine?" Julia's eyes widened. "That cad.." "Ah, ah, ah. No using simple names. Remember, think big." Alex sat down on the bed and looked up at Julia, who was standing her full five-foot- six. "Not worth it. But he can consider himself dumped." "You're not sad about this?" Nicolae asked a little surprised. "Not at all. He left me alone just a while ago and someone shot me when I asked him not to leave me alone. He's not a reliable boyfriend, and not even all that good." Nicolae and Ethan looked at each other, grinned, and both girls' sensed their need to laugh, and they started to laugh just as Ethan and Nicolae did. "How old are you two? You guys look young but seem to carry a lot of responsibilities." Alex said. "We're not that much older than you two, and we cower under you girls. You guys have ridden in Gundams and fought in the war before this one. Your parents were Gundam pilots. Julia's more than half Lunarian, and already has her power. But yeah, we're eighteen." Julia and Alex both stared at Nicolae. "How did you know." Nicolae raised his arms and a deep, deep green and blue swirl pattern ran over the near perfect skin of his forearm. "I can sense it. Be happy you believe in God, or it would kill you." Ethan cleared his throat. "We came here for a reason, Nicolae. It is sort of important." Nicolae's arm went back to normal as the blue and green slithered back into his the sleeve of his coat. "Alright, I know you guys just got here, and a lot has been happening, but we're moving our whole village out of the area. Plague has set up camps a few miles east, so we will be heading west. We needed to make sure you were all up to it before it happened. Personally I think you're in shape, and I don't care what happens to the other two in your group, we need to move now." Julia and Alex both nodded then stood up. Deep inside Julia did care what happened to Zero and Tarmine, and she had no hard feelings to either. It had just been a matter of time until it happened, and she had been ready for it. "Let's go."  
  
Tarmine watched the back of Zero's head as he pulled her out of the base and back through the woods. "Where are we going?" "To see Alanis. I'm sick and tired of all of this, and I want to be on a different side." Tarmine stopped and jerked Zero back, making him almost trip. "What is wrong with you?! First you leave Julia alone, and then you grab and kiss me, now you're going to trade sides because something happened to Julia that you can't explain?" "There are more reasons than that." "Like what?! You guys love each other more than anything, unless I'm incorrect. Just a few hours ago you were in the back of a truck telling her about her mother and father. You can't keep blaming her any more, Zero. It's not her fault." Zero stared at Tarmine, his eyes narrowed. "I thought you wanted me." A sudden bubble of anger popped inside of Tarmine, her fists balled and she swung up and right-hooked Zero. She watched as Zero fell back on his butt away from her. "If that's what this is about, I will be going back, and you can't stop me." "You don't know that." Zero's voice was enraged, and it was starting to scare the violet headed girl. She didn't know this Zero, he was mad and threatening and mean. The Zero she knew was kind and naïve, caring. Click. "Oh, so what now? You're going to shoot me?" "That wasn't my gun." Zero stood up shakily, walking back to Tarmine. She looked around, then, hesitantly, up. Above the two of them was a Scorpio with Alanis sitting on the edge of the cockpit with a gun in her hands. "You guys look as though you're lost. What, did my daughter do something." "Your daughter was shot." Alanis looked at Zero in shock, then it looked as though she remembered why. "Yes, that was one of my men. Tell me, did she change?"  
  
Zechs sighed as Zero just looked away, and Tarmine nodded. "She got her Lunarian power. Alex said it was something to do with strength. She met a boy by the name of Nicolae, and he has the same thing." "Nicolae Une?" "Yes, that's it." Alanis looked back at Zechs, grimaced, then back to the teens under her. "It was sort of sad having to frame his mother like that. I actually felt grief when I heard about her death in the news, and when I saw my daughter being taken to prison." "Why do you hate your daughter?" The question from Tarmine shocked everyone. Alanis was silent for a few minutes, and then started up again. "I don't hate Julia. I love my daughter. That's why this war is being made. I want my daughter back, and I'm afraid the only way to do it is to show her I'd give lives to be with her. And I want her to have something to live for." "So you'll kill millions and not yourself." "Yes." "What if Julia's killed in the process? What if today when she was shot she didn't have her powers come to her and she died all together?" Another silence. Zechs stared at Tarmine, then looked at Zero. He had turned away, and wasn't looking at either of them. Finally he did turn, looking up at the blonde woman who sat on the edge of her cockpit. "I'll help the Plague, Alanis. Julia and I are no longer in love, and I'd like to see at least one person have their 'happily-ever-after' come true. Everyone knows it won't be me."  
  
Alanis looked at the platinum blonde headed boy. He could have been her nephew, if Quatre had married Dorothy instead of Sophie Noventa. She reflected on how much he looked like his father, but he acted like the woman who should have been his mother. Dorothy had loved Quatre, and when he took Sophie's hand in marriage instead of Dorothy's, she had gone insane. Sophie died in an unfortunate chartered plane crash. The pilot was never found. No one really understood why all those months before Dorothy Catalonia had been gone, and a little bit after the crash. "You would join the Plague to help me?" "To help you, yes." Alanis' eyes were wide. Was this boy serious? What did he have up his sleeve, if anything at all? If she knew that Zechs was honest, then she knew that Julia and Zero had a relationship like nothing else. Maybe her daughter's transformation brought him to the point of break down. though it should have. Should it? Maybe there had been something under the surface that Zechs hadn't seen. Zechs wouldn't lie to her, and Alanis knew it. "Very well, then." She looked at Tarmine, "And you?" "I'd rather die." "Your father will be angry at me if I do that. But very well, he'll be next then. You two can be with your mother in heaven." She took the safety off of her gun and pointed it straight at Tarmine's heart. Tarmine just looked up at Alanis, and seemed to accept her fate. In one well-aimed blow, Tarmine fell to the ground with one neat hole in her body. "Come, come, boy. I will take you to your father and get you cleaned up. Maybe I can persuade your father into taking Plague's side."  
  
Nicolae sighed as they walked west with a caravan of villagers behind them. Ethan was at his right side, Julia his left, Alex on Julia's left. They had all gotten horses to ride on by one of the village farmers, mostly because Julia was still weak from gaining her Lunarian strength. He looked over at the girl he had just recently met. If he knew his status reports, he knew she was five-foot six, one hundred thirty pounds, and was one year younger than him. Her birthday was only two week after his, and that meant this coming month was her birthday along with his. Before they had left on this journey, Julia had tied her hair back in a ponytail that was lifted through the back part to make an almost elaborate design. The length of her hair fell around her shoulders and back as they trotted along the path. She looked lovely, and even though he knew she killed his mother he couldn't help but think she looked extremely innocent in her tired expression. "When are we going to stop for a rest?" "Not for a while yet. Why?" "Oh, nothing.." Nicolae reached his arms out and caught Julia as she fell to the side. He pulled her up on to his saddle and let her lean back into his chest. He looked over at Alex, and she pushed Julia horse to the other side of her, trotting up beside Nicolae's horse. "She's had a rough few days." "I see that. What all has happened?" "A lot of things. Long, long story." Nicolae nodded, "We have plenty of time, if you wish to tell." Alex nodded back, then told him of what she knew and what happened. She even told him of Julia's mother and father, of why she killed Lady Une, and that Julia had felt really sorry for doing it. Nicolae listened with and intensity, keeping his eyes on the path and his head deep in thought. When Alex finished, Nicolae looked at her. "Thank you." "For what?" "Clearing up why Julia had killed my mother. I feel like I was just relieved of very hard feelings. I never knew why it was done." Alex smiled, and looked ahead. Her eyes widened and Nicolae became confused. Even as he looked out at what Alex saw, he didn't get it. "What?" "I know where we are." "What's so special about it?" "We're by a place Julia took me as a child. There's a beautiful lagoon in those trees on the other side of the field. Let the villagers rest, and let's go see if this cheers Jules up a little. It may do all of us some good to see it." Nicolae looked back to Ethan. "How 'bout it?" "I'm up to seeing anything right now." "Alright." Nicolae stopped his horse and turned it around. "We will be stopping here for a an hour to rest. The four of us will be heading farther northwest for a moment, and will be right back. Do not move, please. We need everyone here when we get back," he shouted. The caravan stopped, and he thought they stopped gratefully. Turning his horse back around he and the other two rode their horses to the weeping willow forest a third of a mile ahead of them. "Ok, off the horses. Nicolae, do you think you can carry Julia to the lake?" "How far is it?" "Not very." "Yeah. But why are we getting off the horses?" "Because they won't fit." "Ah." He got off of his horse and took Julia own with him. He cradled her almost like a baby, and couldn't help but smile. As they walked deeper into the forest, the trees started to glow. He watched Alex as she pulled back a curtain of leaves. He stopped in awe as he looked out at the scene below and in front of him. It was lovely in every way possible, from the water to the trees to the lilies. Alex walked over to them as they walked nearly to the edge of the cliff, and she put her hand on Julia's shoulder. "Jules wake up and look." She shook her gently and Julia groggily woke and looked at Alex. "What?" "Look at where we are." Julia looked up and smiled at Nicolae, then looked out at the lake. Her face lit up and the smile widened. Her blue eyes glittered and she shakily made Nicolae put her down, walking to the edge. She looked down and her hair fell over her shoulders, making a waterfall of brown silk around her face. Nicolae grinned, along with Ethan and Alex. As Julia's laughter filled the area, theirs joined for the sheer delight of the beauty they saw in the world that had become so ugly. This place made the deception and cruelty of earth look as though it were nothing and never could touch this place. "We should go down and swim, come on."  
  
Alex smiled as they climbed down the side of the cliff. It was simple and had as many foot and hand holes as she could count. Julia was the first one down, followed by her, Ethan and Nicolae. She watched as Julia kick off her shoes, and took off her shirt to reveal the blue and silver of the 'second skin'. She stripped off her pants and jumped in, laughing as she came back up. "Come on in! The water feels great!" "Jules, I don't have a. built in bathing suit. like you do." "You don't have to." Nicolae said as he walked up beside her, taking off his clothes as well. The blue and green had wrapped itself around his arms, midsection and legs. It looked like water and wind, ending in swirling patterns much like Julia's. "Why?" "Julia's shield can transfer to you, too." He looked out at Julia. "Hey, come back in for a moment. I'll show you guys something." Julia swam back in, the blue of her hair sticking to the blue silver and pale peach color of her skin. She looked at Nicolae, and Alex seemed to think she was looking too closely. Nothing bad really showed on either of their bodies. Julia's nipples were just barely hidden beneath the sliver of her second skin, and her groin area was covered as if she were wearing a bathing suit that only graced that section. Nicolae's was like that, and it also seemed to curve up along his abs. "Ethan, come here. We're going to show them how this works." The shorter man did as his friend said, and he took his shirt off first. He stuck his hand out, and Nicolae raised his above Ethan's, letting the liquid skin drip over his fingertips. A pattern much like Nicolae's etched it's way over Ethan's skin, and two ribbons came to hover of his skin when they reached the belt on his pants. He opened them and the slid down as the blue and green covered the rest of what was needed, dripping down his legs to end at his feet in a swirl. "Doesn't it feel like your naked?" Alex asked as one more drip went from Nicolae's hand to Ethan, then as they turned to look at her. "Yes." The three said who had this stuff covering them. "Actually, it's because we are. This power only hides what we would normally not let a lot of people see. I noticed that Julia is revealing more than a lot of other women I know that have this." "That's because I view the human body as a type of art. I don't think I should have to cover it." Ethan and Nicolae grinned. Julia and Alex rolled their eyes. "Anyway, I would appreciate it if I could do this without you guys looking at me. The only time I ever was half naked in front of people was last year when I was blown out of the sky in my Gundam. And it was not my choice." Ethan looked as though he wouldn't do it, but Nicolae grabbed his arm and turned him around. "What do I do?" "Just concentrate, Julia. Alex's imagination will take care of the rest." Julia raised her hand and Alex put hers under it. A sudden rush of silver and blue rushed over Alex's skin and down her shirt. It pushed off her shirt and dripped down into her pants, pushing those off as well. It was like two hands that ran over her skin, and she didn't realize she was blushing until she felt the deep heat in her cheeks. She felt her hair shake and shiver, and saw it change from dark brown to a deep, deep blue and strands of silver. "Wow, Alex, you're more creative than I thought. Ok boys, you can look now." "Wait, wait, wait. I haven't felt this naked since I was born." "You look fine." "That's what I'm afraid of." Julia threw her head back and laughed, then grabbed Alex by the arm and pulled her into the water. The two boys followed, canon-balling into the water. The day hadn't turned out so bad after all. 


	5. Chapter five

Julia smiled as she woke up from her nap. They had taken a week to get out of the forest and to a different country altogether. Sure, Austria and France were close, but it still had been unnerving to venture from mid-Europe to Paris, France with little supply and more than two hundred people. The French leader was a bit uncertain about letting more people into their run-down country. Since Relena Dorlain had announced one world nation a few countries had drawn back and tried to rebuild themselves. France was one of them, only gaining back one-half of the original country. "These Frenchmen don't seem to like me." Alex said as she entered the hotel room Nicolae had rented for the two girls. Nicolae and Ethan would have slept in the same room, but everyone had agreed it best that they didn't. Julia grinned, "Maybe because it's your mother's fault." "Yes, my mother's an air-head, I get it already. They don't have to blame me, I'm not the stupid one." "Your mom was young, ignorant." "She's old and still the same. I'm almost the age she was when she declared one world nation, and you don't see me being stupid." She set a plate down on a table, and Julia looked over to see the wide variety of fruits. "Right on. Who got them for us?" "For you, compliments of Nicolae Une. He also told me you'd be getting something else, but wouldn't tell me what. He said I was getting something too, but not from him." "I think it's from Ethan." Alex looked at her. "Yeah, I see the way he's been checking you out." There was a knock at the door. Alex walked over to it and opened it. A man in a tux was standing with two pale-blue vases with a dozen roses sticking out. Julia got out of her bed and walked over. "Are you two Julia Maxwell and Alex You?" "It's Yuy." "Sorry." "Yeah, we are. Are these for us?" Julia asked this with an interest "Yes. There is also a set of dresses and a singing telegram, but I think Miss Alex will shoot me if I sing the telegram, so I'll just say it." Julia looked at Alex as she grinned. The man handed them the roses and two boxes, then took out a card from his pocket. "Dear Julia and Alex too, we'd like to see some more of you, in the past week we've really tweaked, so go to Night Rose down the street." He paused and looked at them. "There's a time. Seven o'clock tonight. Wear the dresses. The shoes are under your beds." "Thank you." "Nicolae." "Thank you, Nicolae. I trust the boys tipped you?" "Very well, thank you." He bowed and slipped down the hallway. Julia looked at Alex as she set down her roses on the table. "AH! What now?" Alex sighed, "You were right. But a dress? Roses? Dinner at the most expensive restaurant in the country? They want something." "They're guys. Guys always want something." "I'll kill Ethan if he tries and touch me." "I think he knows this. Come on let's get ready. We have two hours to get ready and get to Night Rose."  
  
Alex walked stiffly down the street in her dress. It wasn't the dress that was making it difficult to walk, she actually like it. The shoes were the problem. They were platform sandals that matched the Japanese style gown. The gown was white silk with red flower patterns over the fabric. It went just a little above her knees, and showed the rest of her slender legs. Her hair was up in a bun with chopsticks that matched the dress. She knew by how Julia had persuaded her that her make-up, albeit not much, looked wonderful. At least, that's what Julia said. She looked over at Julia as she thought this, thinking of how lovely the two of them looked, even if she didn't want to admit it. Julia looked a little more exquisite, wearing a deep blue, long, slim gown that seemed to stick to her hips and waist, but was loose on her chest. Two spaghetti straps held her dress up, and a shawl of a shining silver hung over her bare arms. The whole dress and shawl was made of silk, and it probably cost a lot more than Alex's dress. She looked up to Julia's hair, wondering how the girl beside her could get that much hair into a bun and curls that shone brilliantly in the street lights as they passed under each one. It had a tiara to go along with the dress. Not to big, and accented with a diamond flower to hold it in place. And the make-up. Julia didn't need much to make herself shine, because right now it was coming from the inside. Julia had still applied lipstick, a pretty copper/red color that made her full lips seem even more gorgeous. Her eye lids were painted with an ice blue that made the cobalt color of her eyes stand out. There was a soft brush of pink on her cheeks, but that was something natural. The shimmer of pixie-dust glitter accented her blush where it was dabbed on the ice blue of her eye shadow. Altogether, Alex thought she looked like an ice sculpture. As they neared the restaurant Alex saw the two men standing by the door. Ethan gawked and Nicolae grinned, both of them wearing a tux of black silk with a white silk undershirt and a bow tie. Ethan was wearing a red one, and Nicolae a blue one. "Hey, we're color coded." Julia said laughing as she ran to Nicolae. Alex watched her throw her arms around Nicolae and Nicolae do the same, swinging Julia around in the air. Alex approached with a little less enthusiasm, wondering how the hell Julia had run in her high-heels. It was strange how Julia could run in things like high-heels and long dresses, and Alex couldn't run in a poofy dress and flats. "You look lovely Alex." "Is that a compliment?" Ethan looked hurt. "You'll have to excuse Alex, she's never been on a real date before. She thinks lovely mean horrendous, and the fact that she's wearing a dress doesn't help either." "Ah.." He smiled at Alex and outstretched his hand. Out of pure interest Alex took it and the four of them walked into the French/Italian restaurant, Julia and Nicolae arm in arm. "Monsieur, table for four, si vou plae." "Right away, 'sieur." The man looked down at the book in front of him. "Mademoiselles, monsieur's, right this way si vou plae." They were taken to the best table in the restaurant, and Alex had to admit these guys were very classy. "If you're thinking we're classy, please stop. We're just trying to be nice, and once you get us out into public and a fair, we're freaks." Alex looked at Ethan, and he grinned. Ah, so he had a power too. "Then you guys and Julia should get along just fine." "You did fine that one night when you were drunk." "I was not drunk by choice, Julia. You spiked the high-school's punch." Ethan and Nicolae laughed. "No way. You, Julian Maxwell, spiked the Sanc Kingdom High school's punch?" Julia grinned, "Yup. A whole flask of vodka." They laughed harder. So, maybe this would be a better date than Alex had thought.  
  
Ethan looked at Alex and smiled. She looked so pretty in the dress he'd bought for her, though he thought she looked nice before she put the dress on too. In all the pictures in the papers he'd ever seen of the Gundam kids, Alex was always the one with an intense look in her eyes, and she'd only once worn a nice gown to a ball her mother had forced her to. Only then she was three years younger and less resistant to her mother's whims. "Thank you, for coming, Alex." She smiled sweetly, now playing the part her mother had always tried to teach her, "Thank you for inviting me." Ethan noticed Julia staring at Alex. "What's the matter?" "In all the years I've known her, Alex has used that smile once, and only once. You've known her a week and she's already being nice to you. That's so strange." Nicolae smiled, keeping it a little mischievous. "How nice will she get?" Alex's eyes widened and Julia laughed. "Hey!" "He's just kidding, Alex, don't sweat it." "He does this often." Alex sighed, "I'm not one subject for male humor. You shall learn that the hard way if you don't keep quiet." Julia grinned and looked at Alex, then to Ethan. "I can't wait to see him try to kiss you." Ethan and Alex both turned red-Ethan from embarrassment and Alex from anger. Julia seemed to have gotten the point and sank into her seat. "What will mademoiselles and monsieurs have this evening?" the man's English was set in a deep French accent. Ethan looked over and smiled brightly. "I'll have the Spaghetti and meatballs. Light on the meat." He looked to Alex. "I'll have the. what he's having." Nicolae looked at the man, grinned, "What is escargot?" "It is a delicacy, monsieur. Garden snails cooked to perfection on sautéed grape leaves." Ethan looked at Nicolae and smiled at his expression. He had a very disgusted look, like he would throw up. "What's caviar?" "Fish eggs from the finest black trout in the Mediterranean Sea, monsieur." "Ugh, and there's frog legs on here. I'll have the Chicken Alfredo and a Caesar Salad." Julia laughed, "I'll have what he's having. And we'll have the best red wine in your stock, it compliments the salad well." The waiter smiled appraisingly to Julia, he looked at Nicolae and winked. "Better keep her on a leash, monsieur. She's not only smart, she is like a white rose among red ones." He turned back to his notepad. "And I shall have hors d'oeuvres brought to your table for the intelligent child with a beautiful smile." Alex started to laugh and Ethan glanced at Julia to see her face a beat red. Nicolae nudged her and kissed her cheek. "Don't worry, doll. I have to agree with the man about your loveliness and intelligence." He kissed Julia again and everyone but Julia's eyes widened as she kissed Nicolae deeper. "Oh look, they're French kissing in a French restaurant in France with a whole bunch of Frenchmen around." Julia broke the kiss when she started to laugh. Nicolae stopped looking stupidly in love and laughed as well, followed by Ethan. He started to think if maybe Alex was the best actress in the world and space, because she kept a straight face. Their food came, along with their wine, and they ate over talk of the past week and up-coming events. Julia had suddenly changed the subject to Alex's embarrassing moments, being fought by Alex's memory of Julia's embarrassing moments, when someone burst into the restaurant with a gun in their hands. "Alright, nobody move, this is a stick up." Ethan stood up, grabbed his gun from his shoulder holster, and pointed it at the robber. He unlocked the safety, cocked it, and got the man's attention. "Hey, how you doing?" The man stared at him, pulling out another gun. "That'll help." Ethan fired and got the man straight in the forehead. "This isn't a good restaurant anymore, I think we should leave."  
  
Nicolae smiled softly as he walked along the boardwalk with Julia's hand in his, their arms locked. She looked so nice with her hair out of her face, he wondered why she didn't grow out her bangs and tie her hair back. "Julia?" "Yeah?" She turned her face toward him and smiled sweetly. He ran his eyes over her soft, full lips, and followed his eyes with his fingers. Her lipstick didn't smear, and he suddenly wondered how much she'd spent that night to look nice for him. He'd spent more than four hundred dollars for the dress and shoes, and the tiara was another one hundred dollars. He didn't mind, because money wasn't anything he had to worry about. Her make- up, though, was designer. He could tell. "Was the date ok? I don't think Alex liked it too much." Julia's smile softened, "I thought it was lovely. I haven't actually been on a date in two years." "I thought you'd been going out with Zero." "Doesn't mean I've been going on dates. He, like I said, wasn't a reliable boyfriend." She looked down and her eyes suddenly glassed over. "I'm sorry if I brought up a subject you're not comfortable with." Julia shrugged and turned her face away from him. Nicolae stopped walking and turned her front towards him, looking down at her. She was four inches shorter than he was, and it was odd to finally be with someone part Lunarian that was shorter. The Lunarian girls he knew were all at least five-ten. Being taller than a girl who can wear high heels and not be taller than him. "Julia, I don't want to make you uncomfortable around me. I like you, and you don't have to worry about me trying to hurt you. I know what it's like to be orphaned, to feel alone. Ethan has been my best friend since we were younger, and even when he's around I still feel a little alone. "For the last week, though since I've been hanging out with you and Alex, I've felt different. I don't even really know you, and I feel like you've impacted my life already." Julia couldn't help but smile, and Nicolae could tell she was trying not to. He grinned and wrapped his arms around her legs, then hoisted her into the air as she laughed and screamed with delight.  
  
Zero stared out the window of the car he had been issued from Alanis. The windows were deeply tinted and no one would be able to see into the black Porsche. He watched Julia and Nicolae laughing together, watched the other man holding his Julia, and suddenly felt a deep regret for suddenly leaving the brunette. She was his, and that was how he would have it. Jealousy bubbled up in Zero's throat as he got out of the car, putting on black shades. His hair had been cut to his ears, two strips of hair falling into his face. With the glasses on he was unrecognizable. Even his clothes were different from what he'd usually wear. Long, black trench coat with a gray sweatshirt underneath, tucked into a black pair of jeans. His shoes were shiny black dress shoes with gray socks. He took a 20-40 k from the shoulder holster he was wearing, hitting off the safety and cocking it. The bullets he used were exploding bullets, and there were two of them. One bullet for Julia, one for Alex. Zero sighed as he started toward the two laughing and walking together, getting into step behind them. Even as he raised the gun and aimed it, Julia looked up to Nicolae and smiled, wrapping her arm around his middle. Nicolae put his arm around her shoulders, and Zero sensed Nicolae's panic as he saw him out of the corner of his eye. All in a second three things happened. Nicolae wrapped both arms around Julia and shielded her from the bullet Zero fired. It hit the man in the back and immediately exploded with a paroxysm of blood. Zero shuddered as Julia looked from Nicolae's body to his face, a look of terror spread across it as she realized it was Zero. Deep shades of blue and green wrapped itself around Nicolae much like the blue and silver had done to Julia. It filled the hole in Nicolae's body and he gasped as he came back to life, coughing and holding onto Julia. Zero backed off, dropping the gun and running to the car. He jumped in and started it, then drove away speeding up to one hundred miles an hour, driving miles away from the city so he could get away from Julia. Get away from her eyes.  
  
Alex's eyes widened as she saw the blood on Julia's arms, the tear in Nicolae's clothing. They were a mess, both blood soaked and tired looking. "What happened?!" "Zero came back. He shot Nicolae then took off." There was a strange look in Julia's eyes, then they looked to Nicolae who seemed to be dazed and confused, tired. "Are you alright, Nicolae?" Julia put her hand to his chest, and he nodded with difficulty. "I need to sleep." "What happened?" The two girls looked over Nicolae's shoulder to see Ethan enter the room. He had two wine glasses in his hands, and a look of shock in his eyes. "He was shot by a 20-40 k. His powers..." "Fixed him. Yeah I see that. By Zero. Jeez I love this gift." Julia sighed and sat down, followed by Nicolae. Alex sighed and shook her head, going to Julia's side. Julia just shook her head, and put a hand on Nicolae's arm. Alex watched the two look at eachother, saw the look of concern on Julia's face, in her eyes. In all of the years Alex had known Julia, only once had she seen the look of hope she saw in Julia's eyes now. "Nicolae, I'm going to borrow Jules for a second. She'll be right back to help you with cleaning up and all." Nicolae looked at the two girls and nodded, leaning back on the leather couch that seemed to not match the furnishings of the hotel room. Alex took Julia's arm and pulled her into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. "You love him, don't you?" Julia looked shocked and admired all at the same time. She also looked tired and scared, but she nodded and smiled softly. "It's stronger than what I felt for Zero. And tonight, when he was shot... I have never been so scared. Except when...." "Your father was killed. I noticed the look. The only other time I saw that look in your eyes is when we were waiting to see if your father would die or not." Julia looked down, nodding, then looked back up. "You love Ethan." Alex tried to do the surprised/shocked thing, but Julia just laughed. "I thought so. I think he loves you too." "But I haven't even known him that long." "Doesn't matter. You can tell when you can tell. It's like me and Nicolae." Alex stared at Julia, thinking about what she was talking about. Sure, she liked Ethan, but it wasn't enough to call it love. Was it?  
  
Alanis looked out over the piers into the prison cells. Relena Peacecraft, now married to Heero Yuy, Trowa Barton, Quatre Winner, Chang Wufei. It had been hard to track down the last one, he had been hiding and had always seemed a step ahead of everyone. Looking to the far right of the cell, behind the others as they sat, cried, cursed, and tried to get out of the cell, was another blonde who looked much like Alanis. Long blonde hair, now in dreadlocks, fell to her knees. Thin, scrawny arms grasped the same kind of legs. Her eyebrows would have been the only thing that would have differed each twin apart a month ago, naming each as Alanis and Dorothy Catalonia. "Miss Catalonia?" Alanis turned to see Zero standing at her back, shades in his hands. "Did you do what I asked?" "I'm sorry, madam, Nicolae Une jumped in front of the bullet meant for Julia. She recognized me and I had to flee." The blue eyed gaze turned harsh, the woman's lips pursed in anger. She took a gun from her coat and aimed it at Quatre Winner. "I asked you to do one small favor for me. Nothing big, all you had to do was shoot the girls and see their power. But no, you can't even do one simple job like that." The gun clicked as Alanis cocked it. "Ma'am, we still don't know if Alex Yuy has power. Her father is Japanese descendant and her mother is mid-European. Heero may not even be full Japanese, only God can remember his strength." Alanis, though she hated to, agreed. She looked back to her sister as she put the gun away. "It's only too bad she won't eat her food."  
  
Julia stared out into the scenery, enjoying what lasted of the French city. She remembered from recent visits and looking at old photographs that off in the east would have been the Eiffel tower. What was left of the tower was a skeleton of bent metal and broken pieces. The war a year past had brought a lot of destruction down upon the European countries. New France had been hit the hardest with a down pour of bombs from Oz, a few hitting the tower. She remembered watching the flames engulf the Eiffel tower, bits and pieces had fallen into the parks below, killing hundreds of animals, people, and destroying surrounding buildings. "Aren't you cold?" The images of mass destruction vanished as Julia realized Nicolae had joined her on the balcony. She turned and looked at him, smiling softly. "I see you've changed, sorry about the dress." "It wasn't your fault, Nicolae. You didn't know my ex would suddenly show up out of no where and try to shoot me." "It's gonna take you a while to get over this, isn't it?" Julia looked down, then nodded. "I was so damned in love with him, it just hurts. I gave up so much to be with him, and he just went an left me when things started to go crazy." Nicolae nodded, looking out into the city. "You guys were here when it happened?" Julia looked at him and nodded, looking back at the ruins of the Eiffel Tower. "We were all here when the tower went down."  
  
Nicolae couldn't help but stare at Julia. She was the most beautiful woman in the world, and he knew that. She seemed so strong and mature for being left behind so many times. It was so wrong that she kept on losing people. It shouldn't have happened to her, and her father should never have lost anyone either. "I recall a story of my father's-about how he got his name." "May I ask you to tell it?" Julia looked at him, a sad smile on her face. "I would have anyway." Nicolae grinned and opened his arms as Julia's cold and shivering body let them embrace her. Nicolae suddenly realized how cold it was on the balcony, but the warmth of his and Julia's bodies meshing together took away most of it. "For starters, my father was born a nameless orphan who eventually drifted to V08744 at Colony L2 around the age of seven. The colony was very poor and disorganized since it was full of immigrants from all over the Earth, but definitely anti-federation. This resulted in a lot of fighting within the colony, leaving orphans and abandoned buildings in its wake. "Solo, the leader of a small group of orphans, took dad under his wing and the two spent a lot of time together. But then a virus spread throughout the colony, and Solo became infected with it. A vaccine was discovered, but it was only made available to the rich. So dad snuck into a hospital and stole some of it, but only enough for everyone except himself. "It was too late to save Solo, who promised to always be with him, even after he died. When Solo died, dad said, 'Fine...if Solo's with me, we'll be Duo.' "Realizing that there was no vaccine left for himself, daddy waited to die, but surprisingly lived. It seemed that Solo had kept his promise after all!" Nicolae's eyes closed as Julia body softly trembled through the story. She was crying, and trying in vain to not. His arms tightened around her as she continued, hoping she wasn't just telling the story for his benefit. "Duo then took Solo's place as leader of the orphans. One day, he led them on a food raid at the Federation base. They were caught and escaped, but the abandoned building they called home was torn down. "Fortunately, the Maxwell Church, run by Father Maxwell and Sister Helen, took pity on the orphans and took them all in. The orphans were fed and clothed, but daddy refused to have his haircut: 'I can't stand to wear these weird clothes, I'm sure as heck not gonna put up with having my haircut!' Sister Helen protested, but Father Maxwell told her to do as Duo says. So she braided his hair instead, which he didn't seem to mind since it wouldn't get in the way when he stole things." There was a soft smile in Julia's voice, and for some reason Nicolae smiled as well. "Daddy and the other orphans were enrolled into a Federation-run school, which was meant for brainwashing children of military personnel. Dad got into several fights with them because he was different, but otherwise he was at the top of his class and learned quickly. That only gave the military kids another reason to be mad at him. "One of the fights landed five military kids in the hospital. My father was scolded and threatened with expulsion from the school, but Father Maxwell apologized for him. Sister Helen asked daddy for an explanation, and he told her that the kids had said he smelled dirty. She simply hugged him and told him he didn't smell. "All of his fellow orphans were adopted, but daddy kept getting sent back to the church since he was such a troublemaker. Thus, he became known as 'Maxwell's Demon'. This fit him well, given he only believed in Shinigami, the God of Death; 'I've never seen a miracle, but I've seen lots and lots of dead people.' "In the year AC 188 L2 once again became a battlefield, and wounded military troops took over the church and made it their base. Father Maxwell protested, quoting the late leader Heero Yuy, but was struck down by the butt of a rifle. My father heard one of the soldiers say that all they needed was one mobile suit to win the battle, so he told them he would steal one for them if they would leave. "They didn't believe him, so daddy said, 'I run, and I hide, but I don't lie.' "He snuck into the Federation base no problem, now knowing the layout quite well. In spite of gunfire, he managed to make it to a truck carrying a Leo and drove it back to the church." Her voice changed again to a whisper, sad but no longer the crying sound she'd started with. "But again daddy was too late, during his absence the church had been destroyed in what became known as the 'Maxwell Church Massacre'. He found Sister Helen dying among the rubble, and she told him that Father Maxwell had been thinking of him until the very end. Daddy wanted to run and get a doctor, but Sister Helen explained what had happened. Her last words were, 'May God... bless you and... keep... you...', before her hand fell away from his cheek. "Then for the first time in his life, daddy cried over her death because he was all alone again. She and Father Maxwell had been his first family of any kind. And as a reminder, he took the last name of 'Maxwell'." Nicolae stared at Julia, absolutely surprised by the story. He knew the rest of it, though, because he'd always found an amazement with the pilots. He'd studied them for as long as he could remember, wishing one day to be a good of pilot as them. And he'd seen Julia and Alex grow up. He saw Duo's funeral, the closed casket with the American Flag draped over it as a reminder of his background. He remembered watching Julia sitting on the stairs next to her father's coffin, holding a pale rose with her face covered by her hands. Nicolae had sat with his mother at the funeral, for she had not yet been thought of as Duo's murderer. He had looked up into the eyes of the woman known as Lady Une to everyone but him, and he had seen a deep sorrow. When they had gotten home, his mother told him why she was so sad. "I knew Duo well. He had become a great friend to me after the wars, and it's only sad to see someone so young go. He was only twenty-three, and though most people never knew him as good as the pilots, Preventers, Miss Relena and I, a person like Duo Maxwell leaves an imprint upon your heart."  
  
Alex sighed as she watched the television. Ethan was sitting beside her, but by his soft and even breathing she guessed he'd fallen asleep. She blushed as she found herself staring at him, thinking about what he was dreaming. Slowly, as not to wake Ethan, Alex stood up and turned off the TV. She grabbed a blanket and laid it over him, then helped him to lay down on the couch and fixed the blanket again. Ethan mumbled something, and Alex grinned as she walked away, into her room at the end of the hall. From her window she could see Julia and Nicolae on the balcony. They had stretched out on a long beach chair, holding eachother with love, with a comforter over their bodies for warmth. "Tomorrow," she whispered softly. "We will get our family back."  
  
Zechs woke up to the sound of sirens blasting. He jumped out of bed, grabbing a blue tee shirt and white slacks, pulling them over his under shirt and boxers. There was a pounding on the door, and it opened to a wounded soldier, screaming something about the gundam pilots escaping. "We already knew the gundam pilots had gotten away." He said, hurrying to the other man's side, putting pressure to the gunshot wound. He read the nametag, sighing softly. "Michael Lambert? Poe, I thought you had gotten away from here." The Chinese man grinned, "Nope, just got in actually." He whispered. "Get me into the room and I'll explain." Zechs nodded and pulled Poe into the room. There Wufei's son stood up and looked at his shoulder, grunting. "The men in this army don't know who the hell to shoot at. Until I showed them my name tag, they didn't want me alive." "Though you're wearing our uniforms. Now what's this about?" Poe grinned, his black eyes gleaming. "Well, you know how I guess you and Zero and Alanis thought Tarmine was dead?" "Yeah...." "Well, she was, but I had been following the others for a long time and when I found Tarmine's body I got her to a hospital. It was only about an hour after you'd shot her-" "Alanis shot her." "-and she was brought back to life. Of course right now our parents are out of prison and running amok along with her, and we have Dorothy in the medical lab being treated by Relena, but we can overlook the fact you traded sides when we needed you." Click. "So tell me why." Zechs stared straight into the black depths of the Chinese man's eyes. Why did he do it? Because after a couple of years on the other side you want to learn more about the opponents that face your cousin and friends, you want to see their weaknesses from another's point of view. Because Zechs had always been the black sheep of the family, and seeing Zero with Julia, using her like a toy, acting as though he owned her, it got to be too much. "I did it because I thought... that if I got Zero away from Julia... that Julia would be happier." He shut his eyes, sighing to himself. Poe had unlocked the safety. "Poe, you gotta believe me. Julia couldn't... I couldn't let her cry anymore. Remember how she was the leader of the group, the one with sunshine in her smile? She was the one who gave us hope, the one who let us down when we got too high-and-mighty, and the one who was always there to take us back to the top. She was the one who saved our necks, and almost killed herself doing it. And she's the one that needed to be set free." Poe was staring blankly at Zechs when he opened his eyes again, and the blonde man was surprised, and happy, to know that Poe had put the gun down. "Come on."  
  
Tarmine looked at the woman before her and finally truly understood. It hadn't been Dorothy who had done everything with her sister... Dorothy had tried to stop the other woman, landing herself in prison where she starved herself because she thought forgiveness was too good for her. "Duo's alive." She wept. "Duo's alive." "She's been like this for days, maybe about a week or more, whenever we got here is when she started this." Relena said softly, laying a hand on the slightly older woman's arm. Tarmine nodded, sighing softly. She walked over to Dorothy's side and bent down over her ear. She moved the matted blonde hair, and gently whispered, "Where's Duo now?" Dorothy looked up with her soft lilac eyes, realizing Tarmine believed her. "He's not here." She said softly. "He's gone, somewhere, but not here." She pointed to a gun that was laying on one of the medical tables. "He was shot, I watched it, by Alanis. She was behind Lady Une, and the bullet had a poison in it called O-Ryo." Tarmine looked at the blonde woman, cocking her head. "Isn't that the goddess of the willow tree?" "Yes." Dorothy said softly. She winced as Relena inserted a syringe into her arm, and then sighed as another needle was added. Relena was giving her an IV vitamin to replenish her strength. "It's called O-Ryo because of what it's made from. An extract from the weeping willow serves as a sleeping substance that keeps a human asleep for a week, their breathing and heartbeat slow enough not to be detected. Duo was thought dead, by everyone but those who knew better." "Why'd they frame Lady Une?" Dorothy closed her eyes. "Because, what would people think if Alanis Catalonia suddenly rose from the grave? The only person who could be suspected the greatest was Une, because she had recently gone into an emotional breakdown." Relena's turn to sigh, "So, your sister sat behind Une with a serum of this O-Ryo, and shot Duo Maxwell with a bullet containing it. He looked and acted dead.. "Julia has to know about this." "No!" Dorothy cried. Relena and Tarmine both looked startled. "But it's her right." "She must not find out! If Julia finds out my daughter will be killed!" she cried. Again surprise came, and Relena laid a hand on Dorothy's face. "What are you talking about, Dorothy?" "My daughter! Zero's half-sister. Quatre's daughter." Tarmine's face twisted in confusion, "Are Zero and Julia related?" Relena shook her head, "Dorothy and Julia and only step aunt and step niece. Zero wasn't born from Dorothy, but Dorothy's daughter is hers and Quatre's. So Alanis is Zero's step aunt." "Ah. Ok, I was about to freak. Do you have any idea where." Louder alarms sounded and screams were heard all over the base. Crashes and sonic booms were heard everywhere, and the lights started to flicker and go dim. "I think the others just arrived." "About time." Relena said with a soft smile. Tarmine laughed gleefully as she looked out the door only to see Alex and Julia run past. There was another crash, and the two girls backtracked to peer into the room. "Mom?" "Yeah, Alex." "You're alright! Where's dad?" "Where you should be. Go have fun." Alex grinned, "See ya." Julia stayed in the doorway a moment and looked carefully at Tarmine. The purple-headed girl became uncomfortable suddenly at that deep stare, wondering if Julia was staring into her soul. "It's good to have you back, Tammy." "Thanks, Jules. Now go help the others." "My pleasure." And with that the brunette disappeared down the long corridor.  
  
Julia laughed as she ran alongside her best friend, then stopped and calculated a concentrated gaze at a far off wall. "According to Poe that's where my mom is." She took a small bomb from her hip-pouch and detonated it, throwing it in one precise movement of her arm. The impact of the explosion knocked out the wall and most around it, the concussion met the two girls only a few seconds after, followed by the boom that echoed through the building. They stood and stared, and Julia met the gaze of the one person who had taken everything away from her. "Now that's not a nice way to say hello to your mother, is it?" 


	6. Chapter six

Alex stared hard. Was this the woman who called herself Julia's mother? "You're not my mother." "Oh, but I am. We have the matching DNA to prove it." "The only person whose DNA matches mine is my father's. And the only person who shares the same blood type is that cowering cad bastard Zero." The blonde woman grinned menacingly. Her eyes seemed to glitter like blue diamonds, still heated by the fire that had created them. "I didn't think it would work to this extent. Controlling Sally and Wufei like that, ha! And he calls himself strong." "You-" BOOM! Alex and Julia raised their arms and looked to the east wall that had been blown out. As the dust and debris settled Julia gasped in shock at the picture that stood before her. "Daddy?" "Duo?!" Alanis glared and raised a gun to aim at Duo's head. "What the hell are you doing here?! I thought we got rid of you when Yuy's brat blew up the-" "Now Lani, you can't be that half witted, can you?" He smirked and inched over to the two girls. "Come on, now, you know I'm not that easy to get rid of." "Daddy? I thought you were dead...." Julia looked to Alex, who turned her eyes from them. She wouldn't look at Julia, couldn't.... "Alex, you knew? You saw my dad in the Oz base, didn't you... and you didn't tell me?" "I couldn't let you lose him again." "Aw, now isn't that sweet. She only wanted to protect you, dear daughter. You should be grateful." The blonde laughed shrilly and cocked the gun. "However, it didn't help. You still found out and you're still going to lose him once more!" Julia shoved her father out of the way as Alanis fired. The bullet dug deep into Julia's breast and she cried out, hitting the floor with a sickening thud. Alanis screamed in a mad rage and threw the gun down as Duo and Alex went to Julia's side. "Come on, Jules, use the power thing." "I... I can't..." her vision went fuzzy and she coughed up blood. Duo leaned over her and held her, putting pressure to the gaping wound in his daughter's chest. "What'd you put in the bullets to make it not work?!" Alex screamed. "An antidote to what gives Lunarians their power. I... I didn't want to hurt her... it wasn't meant for her.... It'll only last an hour, but-" "You evil witch! She doesn't have that long!" Duo cried. He hugged his daughter gently and told her he loved her as Alex stood up with her gun in her hands. She glared a death glare Heero would have been proud of and dropped the gun. "You can't hurt me." Alanis said as she inched slowly towards an intercom button. She hit it and immediately a dozen or more soldiers came into the destroyed room. "You see, even during a great emergency such as this, guards still come to my rescue as soon as I beckon." Alex's eyes glistened. "You will no longer hurt anyone." She raised her hands and Alanis shrunk down, shaking with fear. It was getting hotter in the room, and Alex had the same fire in her eyes as Alanis. A sudden burst of flame erupted into the air, sweeping over the soldiers like waves from a tormented sea. Screams were heard from all corners, and as the fire escaped the room the things that were left standing were ashen husks that soon crumpled in upon themselves. "You... you have...." "Lunarian power." Alex stepped forward to the woman who was now cringing on the floor, who was trying with all of her will to make Alex leave her alone. "You see, Alanis, we no longer have use for Gundams. Our strength doesn't come from machines anymore, because as we are a new generation, we are a new power. And you are no longer needed. This war you started fourteen years ago is over. "And it's over now." 


	7. Chapter seven

The light was blinding. "She's awake." The voices swam in her head. Aside from that one she didn't understand the rest. "Julia...." Brown hair the same color as her own waved into view, along with cobalt blue eyes and a cocky grin. No matter how old this man got he still had the same childish smile he'd always have. "Daddy?" "I'm sorry, Jules, it's Nicolae." Julia blinked, carefully raised her hand to rub her eyes, and blinked again. As the face came into view again she realized it was Nicolae. Medium brown hair, brown eyes, gentle smile.... She was in a hospital room, and everyone was there beside her. Everyone but her dad. "Did we win?" "Thanks to Alex." Nicolae leaned down and kissed her forehead. "Where's my dad?" Nicolae's eyes welled with tears. He held her hands gently and his bottom lip trembled. "Your father was shot, Julia. This time it did him in." Julia looked over to Milliardo. Where was Heero? "Jules, my daughter told me to give this to you. Before your dad died he had given it to her. "Where is Alex?" "In the neighboring room. She burnt herself badly somehow and needed to be treated." Relena smiled softly and handed Julia a cross on a chain of rosary beads. Tears suddenly freed themselves from Julia's eyes and a sob caught in her throat. "I lost him again. Why?" "Because even the God of Death needs to die sometime." Heero wheeled Alex to Julia's bed. The other girl smiled sadly and took one of her hands from Nicolae, holding it gently. "It's good to have you in the land of the living, Jules. I guess Shinigami didn't want your life to join his yet." Alex said softly. "Speaking of life." A voice said from the front of the room. A way parted for Julia to look over at Sally Po. She nodded an apologetic nod and Julia nodded back. She remembered what Alanis had said, that she'd used the woman in her scheme against Duo, and forgiveness was easier than expected. "I have some news about Julia here." "What is it?" Quatre asked a little too enthusiastically. Sally smiled brightly and Wufei walked up beside her, along with Po. "Have you told them yet?" "Just about to." "Told us what? What about me?!" "Well, Jules, we got some blood tests back and it seems you're two months pregnant." Their was a mass hysterical "WHAT?!" and a few dead thuds all around the room. Sally stood there a minute in shock at the mass fainting, blinked, then smiled happily. 


	8. Julia's Log

Comment Log from Julia Maxwell: Year After Colony 216 The war was over, and what I had fought for in my past had been taken away once again. My father had also been taken away again, and my mother. Sure, she might have been a bitch, but she had given birth to me. After I had lost it all, I realized I had gained a lot to. I had a new love, new friends, and a new purpose in life. I was a full time Preventer, at the top of the game since Alex seemed to have a distaste in politics, I was also the new Vice Foreign Minister. Alex did get to be the new president though, and she played the job well, giving the duties for political roles to her mother. She didn't even need a body guard, though Ethan vowed not to leave her side. He was a stubborn one. But hey, I knew Alex to be stubborn too. They made quite the match. I also got a cousin out of the whole thing. Yeah, it was disturbing to see two Dorothy's in one place at a time, but when Mariemaia came home from a giant business meeting the week the world ended she had squealed in delight. Une had given Dorothy custody of Mariemaia in her will, because Dorothy had grown into a nice young woman, and Marie seemed to have loved it. Ashley was a pill, though. She was a year older than us, and hung out with Marie like they were sisters. Oh God, family reunions, oi. Anyways.... What happened after I passed out? Alex seemed to save the day, with the help of the others. They had killed about half the remaining soldiers with the help of Trowa, Quatre, Wufei, Sally, Milliardo, Noin and Heero. The Preventers had finally found where we had been fighting and raided the place, arresting the last soldiers for conspiracy against the World Nation. Zero disappeared somehow, only to be caught by bounty hunters on the L-4 colonies. He was worth a lot, and he was a Plague soldier, not many people like him. A month later, he escaped. Six months went by and out came my beautiful baby girl, Zoe. It was a little difficult at first, but Nicolae and Alex lent me a hand, Zoe even adopted them as Aun'y Ax and daddy. Nic had had to fight back those tears. So, I guess I hadn't lost as much as I'd summed up in that hospital bed. I had a new life, a new love, new friends and a new destiny. Interruption...new voice...processing...processing complete. -maaaaaaaaaaaa! Laughter. Mama! Zo Zo love mama! Wanna see? Mama, wanna see? Zoooooom... Laughter. And anyways, who ever thought that the 'Daughter of Death' could bring such a wonderful life into this world? And even though she brings a lot of memories back my way, my little bundle of energy will make more memories in the future ahead of us. Our new future. Our free future.  
  
Mama! Huwwy up! Daddy wansa go!  
  
Alright. This is Julia, over and out. End transmission. 


End file.
